Hello, we've found our way to the end of the working week - Warren Murray here to sum up the news that is closing it out.
France's ambassador in London has been summoned and two navy vessels put in "high readiness" to tackle potential blockades by French fishing boats amid the row over post-Brexit access to British waters. The dispute has ramped up ahead of the weekend expiry date on current licences. Paris said it would ban British fishing boats from key ports from next Tuesday, vowed to stifle cross-Channel trade, and threatened the UK's energy supply.
In the early hours of Thursday morning, French maritime police seized the British trawler Cornelis Gert Jan off the coast of Normandy for allegedly fishing without a permit. A second boat was given a warning. Earlier this week, the EU commission said the UK government had approved 15 out of 47 applications from French boats, while another 15 were being considered and 17 had been withdrawn.
Of most concern to the French is the high number of boats applying to fish in the waters off Jersey that have been turned down by its government. Jersey's government has said it will issue two extra permanent permits and 15 temporary ones, reducing the number being rejected to 55 from 75. UK government defence sources said they were awaiting a distress call from Jersey - there was no immediate sign of a request for help "although ships remain ready if the situation were to suddenly escalate".
Vapes on the NHS - E-cigarettes may soon be prescribed on the NHS in England to help people quit smoking. Manufacturers can now submit their products to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for approval. The NHS said the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence would have to give the green light before e-cigarettes could be rolled out on the health service. Public health experts have welcomed the move, though experts have also raised concerns about young non-smokers being lured by vaping. E-cigarettes contain nicotine and are not risk-free. "The liquid and vapour contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke," the NHS says - though these chemicals are at lower levels.
'In line with personal beliefs' - So-called conversion therapy should be available to consenting adults, the government has recommended. Setting out proposals to stop "coercive and abhorrent" practices seeking to change sexual orientation or gender identity, the Government Equalities Office said it also recognised "there are adults who seek counselling to help them live a life that they feel is more in line with their personal beliefs. We do not intend to ban adults from seeking such counselling freely, but consent requirements will be robust and stringent." A consultation on the proposals will run for six weeks. Jayne Ozanne, who quit the government's LGBT advisory panel in March and has direct experience of conversion practices, said she welcomed the consultation but was "deeply concerned about the loophole it creates by allowing adults to consent to these harmful and degrading practices".
'We will miss her many contributions' - Kathleen Stock, the philosophy professor at the centre of a row over her views on gender identification and transgender rights, has announced her resignation from the University of Sussex, three weeks after a protest by some students at the Brighton campus. Stock has said she believes gender identity does not outweigh biological sex "when it comes to law and policy" and that people cannot change their biological sex.
In an email to staff, Adam Tickell, Sussex's vice-chancellor, said: "We had hoped that Prof Stock would feel able to return to work, and we would have supported her to do so. She has decided that recent events have meant that this will not be possible, and we respect and understand that decision. We will miss her many contributions, from which the university has benefited during her time here."
Much riding on Biden - A draft G20 communique that emerged overnight says world leaders who are gathering for pre-Glasgow talks in Rome this weekend will pledge to take urgent steps to reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C. Joe Biden, meanwhile, faces a major challenge to reassert American credibility when he travels on from the G20 to the UN climate talks in Scotland. The US president has vowed to tackle a climate crisis he has described as an "existential threat" and will be welcomed to the Cop26 talks with a sense of relief after his predecessor derided climate science as "bullshit" and pulled out of the landmark Paris climate agreement - which Biden quickly rejoined.
Biden is bringing a dozen of his cabinet members to Glasgow, where delegates from nearly 200 countries will wrangle over an agreement aimed at avoiding a disastrous 1.5C of global heating, a key objective of the Paris deal. The US has declined to set an end date for its coal sector, whereas Alok Sharma, the conference's president, has pledged the talks will help "consign coal to history". Asked by the Guardian about the US stance, Sharma said progress had been slow but "we want to see what is going to be possible . I welcome the fact we now have an administration in the US that is very focused on taking climate action and supporting the international effort".
Moon orbit capsule stacked - Nasa's Orion crew capsule has been "stacked" on the top of a Space Launch System rocket at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Final preparations are beginning for the first uncrewed launch in Nasa's Artemis programme to return astronauts to the moon. Nasa has said the launch date will be no earlier than 12 February 2022 and depends on upcoming tests. Artemis 1 will robotically orbit the moon before returning to Earth, where the Orion capsule will splash down in the ocean. After that, Artemis 2 will send four astronauts around the moon - then Nasa and its international partners expect to begin working to establish a space station in lunar orbit before landing people on the surface. The timeline for that stretches out beyond 2024.
'Really rare finds' - Statues of a Roman man, woman and child have been uncovered by archaeologists at the site of the Norman-era Saint Mary's church in Stoke Mandeville, Buckinghamshire, on the route of the HS2 railway. The discovery was "utterly astounding", according to Rachel Wood, the lead archaeologist. "They're really rare finds in the UK," she said.
A hexagonal glass Roman jug was also uncovered. Despite being in the ground for what is thought to be more than 1,000 years, large pieces were intact. The only known comparable item is a vessel on display in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. More than 1,000 archaeologists have worked at more than 60 sites along the HS2 route between London and the West Midlands over the past three years.
On the eve of Cop26: what would success look like for a country vanishing under water? Mohamed Nasheed, the former president of the Maldives, argues that if countries do not get serious about reducing emissions, it will not be just his country facing a perilous future.
From upcycling to educating, Fashion Open Studio has enlisted nine pioneering designers for a series of online workshops to mark the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Azeem Rafiq has accused Yorkshire of protecting their staff after the county said it will take no disciplinary action against any of its employees, players or executives following an independent report on allegations of racism. England face a home nations clash at next summer's Women's Euro 2022 after being drawn in a group with Northern Ireland. The Premier League has agreed to Amnesty International's request to discuss revising the owners' and directors' test, after the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United.
Cameron Norrie's hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin suffered a blow as he was defeated by Félix Auger-Aliassime, the sixth seed, in the second round of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Emma Raducanu cut a more relaxed figure as she moved into the quarter-finals of the Transylvania Open after defeating Ana Bogdan of Romania.
Chris Jordan has warned England will face a greater test of their resolve when they meet Australia, who thrashed Sri Lanka after David Warner returned to form at the T20 World Cup. Wayne Pivac believes his injury-hit Wales can upset the All Blacks this weekend as Alun Wyn Jones wins his 149th cap, a record for a country. And Lilian Thuram, the former France defender, has spoken to the Guardian about identity prisons, how white players can rid football of racism and why he admires Jordan Henderson.
Asian shares have slipped in morning trading, led by Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edging down 0.9% ahead of the national elections on Sunday. There has been heavy selling of some technology shares in after-hours trading - Apple dropped 5.4% after its fiscal fourth-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street's estimates. The FTSE will open lower as well. The pound is worth $1.379 and ?1.181 at time of writing.
The Guardian leads with the "radical plan to cut smoking rates" by prescribing e-cigarettes on the NHS. Also on the front: "Rayner says terrifying threats hit family hard". The Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, has opened up about the abuse, some of which has led to a man receiving a 15-month suspended sentence.
The Express says "E-cigarettes on NHS to save lives" - the Daily Mail's furniture is similar and its front also carries the Anglo-French fishing crisis. On the latter, the Telegraph says "Johnson summons French ambassador over fish row". The Metro calls it a "Kick in the scallops". The Financial Times has "Climate summit clouded by main polluters' refusal to tighten targets".
The Times splashes with "Mortgage and tax bills to increase after budget" as the autumn statement postmortem continues. To that end the i contributes "Return of the squeezed middle" while the Mirror says "Fury at bankers' budget" and itemises a "Perfect storm" of banks raising interest rates, 5% inflation and tax increases of £3k a year for many in the next five years. The Sun's front page lead is "Two Ron Ron" about Ronaldo's girlfriend being pregnant with twins.
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