♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. announcer: and now, "bbc world news". ♪ >> hello. this is "outside source." buckingham palace has announced queen elizabeth won't be traveling to glascow next week for a major climate summit, on the advice of her doctors. instead, she will address world leaders via recorded video message. also in the program, sudan's most senior general says the military sees our on monday --

seized power on monday in order to avoid civil war. in khartoum some are refusing to work until civilian rule is restored. a catastrophic rising temperatures if carbon emissions are not drastically cut. >> this report is another wake up call. how many more do we need? nuala: we start with news that has broken in the past hour in the u.k. the queen will not be attending the climate conference cop26. she had been due to attend e evening reception on monday. she will still deliver an address to the assembled delegates via video message. here is our correspondent on the announcement from buckingham palace. >> this announcement came hd

on the heels of the queen returning to official duties. she received two ambassadors today, from switzerland and korea, in official audiences, albeit virtual ones, done over videoconference. one of the pictures showed her beaming away, clearly delighted to be back on the job. it followed her withdrawal from planned trip last week -- a planned trip last week and a brief stay in hospital. the next big thing on the agenda was the evening reception she was going to host on the first of november at cop26, the big climate change conference that the british government is hosting. the palace put out a statement early evening in the u.k., saying that, regretfully, she had decided against attending the conference. this, on the advice of her medical team. she was disappointed, but would instead put a message in a video

form for the delegates. so, a blow, certainly, for someone who likes to carry out alof her duties. it's quite rare for a consolation -- cancellation to come quite so close to an event. she had the big drawing power for it. it may well be that the combinatn of travel from london to glascow and the demands of being on her feet for an hour, hour and a half doing a major reception for world leaders -- that thawas judged 95-year-old sovereign.ch for the nuala: it will be disappointing for the queen herself, but also fo those organizing cop26. how will she still be involved? >> there will still be a videoconference and the family will be involved. the prince of wales and prince

william will be going. she would've been one o the big soft power draws for this conference. there are very few world leaders who turn down the opportunity to talk to the queen, to meet the queen, to have their photo taken. of course, all of the other people who will be at this climate change conference. it is a blow for the organizers and the british government. it will, whatever the palace says about the queen's condition, deepen concerns about her strength as she carries on in her 95th year. nuala: we know that the queen loves all the events that she attends. this must meanhat she has received some pretty strong advice from her doctors. >> i think it will have been fairly firm advice. you have to make advice fairly strong if you are giving it to the queen and you expect her to obey. she is more used to being obeyed

than obeying. we are not privy to it, and the palace is very tight with information about the medical condition of members of the royal family. it puts that in the drawer marked private and slams that pretty firmly shut. the fact that she withdrew from an engagement last wednesday, the fact that she went to hospital for tests, she's been taking it easy for the most recent few days, and now that she has canceled attendance at what is a very big international event for her government is an indication, perhaps, that she is receiving now advice that she needs to take it easy. she needs to slow down a bit. it had been a pretty hectic timetable rep -- right up until last wednesday and now the word seems to be, come on, you are 95, you need to take it easy a wee bit. he certainly seems to have listened to that -- she certainly seems to have listened

to that. nuala: let's turn to sudan. the country's top general has defended the military take over as necessary to prevent a civil war. the general spoke to journalists 24 hours after he dissolved the civilian government, declared a state of emergency, and arrested the civilian pri minister. here is what else he said. >> the prime minister was staying at his home, but we were afraid he would be harmed. he is now staying with me at my home. we were sitting together yesterday evening, and he is carrying on with his life normally. he will rurn home when the crisis is over and all threats are gone,, but for now he is staying with me at my home. nuala: on monday, the general announced the end of a power-sharing deal with civilian leaders, who had been leading sudan's democratic transition since the ousting of omar al-bashir. thousands took to the streets to demand a return to civilian rule. protesters burned tires and

blocked roads. we are told 10 people died when soldiers opened fire. despite the unrest, the protests continued for a second day. this was khartoum earlier. shops are closed. phone and internet lines are severely disrupted. central bank have reportedly gone on strike, and across the country doctors are said to be refusing to work in military-run hospitals, except in emergencies. international support -- flights have been suspended until at least saturday. an activist described the scene where she is. >> what's happening is the army is controlng the area between there and the army headquarters. beside the bridges, the bridges are open for people to pass, but you can be detained. we had two people they have

broken hands while attacking the bridge. the streets are blocked with barricades. thousands of people are still on the streets. nuala: sudan's civilian leaders and their military counterparts have been at odds since omar al-bashir wasverthrown two years ago. their power-sharing agreement was designed to steer sudan toward democracy, but that has proven fragile. there have been a number of failed coup attempts previously, the most recent just over a month ago. last week, sudan's prime minister warned of a dangerous crisis. regardless, some in sudan doubt the coup will succeed. here is the director of justice africa sudan. >> we -- the military rules have

run sudan down in the last 65 years. this is why i don't think we want to repeat that. we want a chance to survive i sudan. we have seen what freedom means. a good economy, good education, accountability, no corruption. we cannot accept to go back again to the same old regime. nuala: there has been widespread international condemnation. the u.s. has suspended a $700 million aid package demanding the stallion government -- civilian government is restored without preconditions. the general had a lengthy military ceer under omar al-bashir, but many in sudan fear a return to brutal autocratic rule. the general has powerful connections, ties to saudi arabia, united arab emirates, and egypt.

how is this playing out in cairo? >> egypt has been pretty kosher -- cautious when it comes to reactions to what's happening in sudan. the ministry of foreign affairs has issued a very brief statement yesterday, saying that it supports the stability of sudan and it calls on all parties to be self restrained. if not that -- it did not describe what happened in sudan as a coup, and did not explain what it means by stability. does it mean siding with the army generals who took over power or supporting the protesters, who are calling for a democratic transition to civilian rule? and, in fact, egypt is viewed in sudan as a strong supporter of the military leaders. that's what i heard from many sudanese people in khartoum, right after former president

bashir left power. it is viewed as a strong backer of the army generals. perhaps this is why the egyptians were pretty cautious with the wording of the statement they issued yesterday they are just waiting to see how things are going to go and which party is going to have the upper hand. nuala: how real is the threat that other powerful backers in the region might end up having to prop him up? >> actually, that's a pretty complicated question. the regional players do have a role in what's happening in sudan, according to some experts i've been talking to. we can see that in the reactions coming from the gulf area, like saudi arabia, united arab emirates. they have been quite diplomatic. they've said, we support the stability of sudan.

we side with the sudanese people. they did not refer to what happened as a coup. they did not criticize the army generals. generally speaking, egypt, uae are seen as a strong backers of the army generals. on the other hand, we have another reaction coming from turkey, for example, that said they are worried about what's happening. yesterday, the ministry of foreign affairs, the turkish ministry of foreign affairs issued a statement saying that it is quite concerned about the coup attempt taking place in sudan. from the reactions, we can sort of tell what kind of parties the regionaley players are supporting. ♪ nuala: let's turn to the ongoing debate about how social media companies deal with hate and misinformation on their platforms. frances haugen, known as the

facebook whistleblower, has told inquiries in the u.s. and u.k. that facebook prioritizes its profits over the safety of the public, suggesting that it allows hate and misinformaon to spread on its platforms because it leads to higher engagement and, as a result, more revenue. facebook has denied those claims, pointing to the billions it has invested into combating hate speech and misinformation. eric schmitt is a former ceo of google and he told the bbc that tech companies are very aware of the amount of harmful content on their platforms. >> the first thing to know about the big tech companies is they all measure everything, so i was not surprised about the leaks and so forth of facebook materials. i wasn't, of coue, at facebook, but this is stuff they should have dealt with. the problem now is governments are going to step in and try to regulate this. part of the problem is the systems are ai-based and

ai-based systems are driven by objectives. if your objective is to maximize revenue, you maximize attention. to maximize attention, you maximize outrage. i think you are seeing that cycle. that's what we are all reacting to. it's not all -- at all obvious to me how you stop that. maybe you could do some search ranking and those kinds of things. nuala: facebook are not the only company being grilled by politicians. the heads of snapchat, tiktok, and you told -- youtube faced questioning by a senate panel on child safety. it's the first time tiktok, which is particularly popular amongst younger users, has testified on capitol hill. here is some of what tiktok's head of public policies in the americas had to say. >> when it comes to protecting minors, we work to create safety protections. for example, people under 16

have their accounts set to private automatically. they cannot post livestream's or send direct messages on our platform. we do know trust must be earned, and we are seeking to earnrust through a higher level of action, transparency, and accountability, as well as of humility to learn and improve. nuala: stay with us on "outside source." still to come, we turn to japan where princess mako has marri her college sweetheart in a subdued ceremony, meaning she now loses her imperial status for marrying a commoner. ♪ parliament in ghana is debating a bill which seeks to introduce some of the harshest laws in africa against the lgbtq community. the bill would increase jail terms up to a decade and enforce -- force some to undergo conversion theory, whereby

attempts are made to change peops sexuality -- people's sexuality. u.n. has described the bill as a -- >> it has generated a lot of controversy as it was introduced in august this year. the speaker has said that will go through a thorough and transparent process before it is passed into law. it is already punishable with a prison term of three years. this could promote a system of discrimination and violence against xual minorities in the country. the bill is likely to pass with some amendments, since many mps favorite. -- favor it. ♪ nuala: this is "outside source," live from the bbc news room.

buckingham palace has announced queelizabeth won't be traveling to glasgow next week for a major climate summit, on the advice of her doctors. the u.n. environment program has said that the world is on track for a catastrophic rise in temperatures if current commitments to reduce carbon emissions are not increased. the report warns that the world is on course to warm by around 2.7° centigrade, which the u.n. says would be catastrophic. pledges made for cuts to carbon emissions by 2030 would only result in a 7.5 reduction of emissions. reduction of 55% would be needed to limit the temperature rise to that important 1.5 degrees name. even to limit the temperature rise to within two degrees, a reduction of 30% is needed. next week, global leaders will meet in glasgow to discuss how to tackle climate change. here is the u.n. secretary general, speaking at the launch of the report. >> the clock is ticking. the gap is the result of a

leadership gap. but leaders can still make this a turning point to the future, instead of a tipping point to climate catastrophe. the era of half measures and hollow promises must end. the time for closing this leadership gap must begin in glasgow. nuala: here is the analysis of our environment correspondent. >> this is the emissions gap report in its 12 year. every year, it is highlighted in the gap between the good intentions of countries to bring down emissions and the reality of their plans. once again, it highlights this yawning gap. scientists say, to keep this 1.5 degrees threshold alive, this century, emissions have to go down by roughly half by 29 years' time. the plans, when added up, say we have cut carbon emissions by

seven point half -- 7.5 by then. it underlines the challenge that world leaders will face when they arrive in glasgow in five days. there's always hope, and i think there is some hope in this report, pointing to the fact that long-term strategies, net zero goals, as they are called, li we heard about from australia just a short while ago -- that these do give hope. the report says, if countries live up to the promise on net zero, we will have warming this century, but not as bad as what we are currently facin nuala: let's take a closer look at that announcement from australia. it has received a lot of criticism. the prime minister, scott morrison, pledged net zero carbon emissions by 2050. net zero means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. the 2030 commitment will reduce -- remain at 30%.

it is still below what the u.n. has recommended today. hear from prime minister scott morrison. >> they will welcome strongly the fact that we believe we will be able to achieve a 35% reduction in emissions by 2030. that's something we think we are going to achieve. the actions of australia speak louder than the words of others. there will be other countries that turn up in glasgow and they will say they have targets and ambitis, but you won't find the same plan. you won't find the same detailed plan that we are releasing here today. what you need -- i always said we would not commit to this unless we could have a plan to achieve it, and that's what we are delivering. nuala: so, let's take a look at some of the claims made there. canada, japan, new zealand, south korea, the u.k., the u.s., the european union, and china

have all set net zero targets. on future climate commitments, australia is far less ambitious than comparable countries. as you can see from this graph, australia has the highest co2 issions per person. amongst developed countries, all except newly -- new zealand, have significantly more ambitious targets. new zealand has promised a new goal at or before glascow. the chief executive officer of the australian conservation foundation, a nonpartisan environmental organization -- >> we're really happy that we have a net zero emissions target in australia by 2050. we've been trying to get this for decades. a lot of climate wars, a lot of politics got in the way. so that it's a good thing. unfortunately, there was not much else. there's no real plan. there's no new action, no new

policy, and there is no decent target for 2030. we all know what really matters for climate change is carbon emotions -- emissions. damage is here now, particularly in australia, where we are facing serious bushfires and droughts. nuala: the prime minister insists this plan will not harm the coal industry or the economy. australia will invest $15 billion in low emissions technologies over the next 20 years. those will include carbon capture in soil, lower solar energy costs, and developing greener energies -- industries. australia will lose -- use more gas, at least in the short term, and there is no plan to limit fossil fuels. an environmental lawyer -- >> the document is a collection of existing policies, policies that experts on climate action have already criticized and shown to be absolutely inadequate to maintenance -- m

ake net zero. this doesn't contain any plan to wind down the coal, oil, and gas sectors. in fact, it says there will be no change to its policies in respect of those sectors, which are, as we know and ask science tells us, critical to achieving climate action. nuala: climate change is a very divisive issue politically. large parts of australia's economy are reliant on the oil and gas stor. here's our corresponde. >> essentially, the government needed the support of its junior coalition partner, the national party. they represent where most of the carbon intensive industries are, like the coal mining industry, for example. after days otwo and fro, -- to and fro, talks, political concessions, the leadership has been able to stand up and say in no uncertain terms that they are

adopting zero emissions by 2050. ♪ nuala: japan's princessako has married a commoner and left the royal family. there was no big reception for the niece of the emperor. instead, she and her fiancé went to the equivalent of the tokyo registry office. here is rupert wingfield-hayes. rupert: no grand wedding ceremony, no cheering crowds. just a very formal goodbye from princess mako to her parents. first, her sister does the same, then she steps forward for a very un-japanese hug, the most touching moment in what has been a strange day. a few minutes later, the now former princess was sitting before the media with her new husband, kei komuro. ever since their engagement, mr. komuro's humble origins had been the subject of japanese tabloids. in central tokyo, around 100

protesters gathered today, still demanding the marriage be called off. >> we are marching today because we don't wanthe imperial family to be involved in crimes. >> the main accusation is that mr. komuro's widowed mother owes 25,000 pounds to a former lover. the media frenzy has even extended to him daring to wear his hair in a ponytail. in britain, the fact that princess catherine is descended from coal miners is no longer a barrier to her one day becoming queen. but when it comes to the family that live in the palace behind me here, attitudes are still incredibly conservative. a surprisingly large number of japanese people appear to have looked at mr. komuro and his family background and decided he is just not suitable to marry a princess. such attitudes could be driving the japanese imperial family towards extinction. princess mako's departure leaves

the family with just 17 members, only four of whom are male. rupert wingfield-hayes, bbc news in tokyo. nuala: you have been watching "outside source." plenty more is always on our website, bbc.com/news. that's it r me and the team here in the bbc news room. thanks so much for your company. bye-bye. narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. woman: the rules of business are beingeinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. man: people who know, know bdo.