welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughn jones. our top stories: donald trump is not backing down — he questions if the presidential election can be honest, despite senior republicans distancing themselves from his comments. we want to make sure the election is honest and i'm not sure that it can be. i don't know that it can be. a race against time in france to avoid another deadly coronavirus wave — as the country reports a record number of new cases. the uk government unveils a plan to top up workers‘ wages, as covid cases rise and fears of mass unemployment grow. and constantly accused of kidnap because her child's a different

race — how one mother's trying to change public prejudices. hello and welcome to the programme. president trump is continuing to cast doubt on the results of the upcoming election in the united states, telling reporters that he's not sure the vote can be honest. in the past 2a hours senior republicans distanced themselves from his reluctance to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in november. mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate, tweeted "the winner of the november third election will be inaugurated on january 20th. there will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792." well, speaking a short while ago, here's what the us president said. we want to make sure the election is honest and i'm not sure that it can be.

i don't know that it can be, with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots, they are unsolicited. millions being sent to everybody. our north america correspondent, david willis, has more. well, lewis, i have to tell you it's deja vu all over again, really, isn't it? because back in 2016, when he was campaigning for president, donald trump said that he may well refuse to accept the outcome because there could be a lot of people who commit fraud. well, fast forward four years and we have these claims now from mr trump, this time, focusing on postal ballots, which he says are a potential source of fraud. and that's significant because millions of people in america are expected to vote by post this time around, simply because they don't want to stand in long lines at a time of the coronavirus pandemic. now, mr trump says on top of all of that, that he may

refuse to the outcome of the election if he thinks there is fraud. and that's caused a lot of disconcerted responses, even from people in his own party. we've had mitch mcconnell and mitt romney and others coming up to say they believe there will be a peaceful transfer of power. but it's worth making the point, ithink, lewis, that no american president has cast doubt on the american democratic system in this way ever before, hence the american civil liberties union put out a statement today saying, "the peaceful transfer of power is essential to a functioning democracy." yeah, david, it's extraordinary, isn't it? we sit and do reports and interviews on countries across the world that legitimately have problems with their democratic functions. and we never thought really that me and you would be sitting here chatting about this for the united states? absolutely not. and that's something that house speaker, nancy pelosi,

embraced today when she addressed reporters about this. she said the president admires people who are perpetuating their role in government, and she referred to kimjong—un in north korea and vladimir putin, amongst others. and she said, "you are not in north korea, mr president, nor in turkey, nor in russia. so, why don't you just try for a moment to honour your oath of office?" but all of this clouds an already clouded electoral process. we have got of course a contentious nomination coming up for another supreme court justice, and indeed, such as the potential lack of clarity going into this presidential election, that it might actually be up to the highest court in the land at the end of the day, the supreme court, to determine the outcome of the november election. david willis there. let's get more on this with david becker, executive director of the non—partisan center

for election innovation and research. he joins us from washington. thank you very much for coming on the programme. thank you for having me. so, your centre is all about trying to build voter confidence. what is your reaction to the president trying to undermine that confidence in the election? well, we have seen that a lot into the 2016 campaign from that candidate, trump, now president trump. it should be noted for your viewers, for american voters, for people watching around the world, that the election in 2020 will have a great deal of integrity. we are very used to postal ballots in the united states, about 25% of all ballots cast in 2016, an election with president trump one, were cast by us mail, that number will be higher in 2020 due to the pandemic but states are ready for it. the ballots of elevated, and it may take more time to count them, but voters can be confident those votes will be counted. we will

have a result at some point shortly after the november three election. it is disappointing, of course, to see the president and the white house being used in such a way to diminish voter comments in such a way but i am confident in the american voter. are there evidence for his claims? absolutely not. we have looked at voter fraud absolutely not. we have looked at voterfraud in absolutely not. we have looked at voter fraud in the united states of america decades. was that i used to work in the bush department ofjustice, we looked at theirs, and the president was maccarone integrity commission looked at this. republican —— we looked at this. voterfraud is extremely rare. less than 1000th of a percentage point. americans take their voting very seriously and there is a variety of checks and balances in place. it might take time to count all the e—mail ballots are especially the ones that ta ke are especially the ones that take a little later it does

make of all of the male ballots. we want to get it right and get it right fast. -- mail. that is a crucial point. how prepared is the us system for those delays? you would rather get it right than fast. but those disputes over the result? we are facing an unprecedented election with the pandemic and the threat of foreign interference in the united states stop this is changing a great deal of things we are facing here. states will ta ke we are facing here. states will take longer to count because of the procedures they have in place, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin. florida, georgia, north carolina and arizona are expected to be closed. they probably won't be able to count ballots on election night. if the margins are larger, we will know sooner. if the margins are very, very narrow, the number of states that could decide the election have narrow margins.

it may take longer as they take the care they need to make sure each ballot cast is properly counted. thank you. the us city of louisville has entered a second night under curfew after wednesday night's violence, which saw two police officers shot and wounded. thursday's protests have been largely peaceful but the curfew has been extended into the weekend. the demonstrations followed a decision by the kentucky authorities not to prosecute anyone over the death of breonna taylor — who was killed during a police raid in march. meanwhile, a man has been charged with the shooting of the two police officers. let's get some of the day's other news. one of the most powerful officials in the vatican, cardinal angelo becciu, has unexpectedly resigned from his office. the cardinal, who's a close ally of pope francis, had become embroiled in a scandal involving the purchase of luxury property in london. the matter, which is now under investigation, has already led to

others stepping down. cardinal becciu denies wrongdoing. britain's prime minister boris johnson's urged world leaders to commit to deeper cuts in carbon emissions once the coronavirus crisis is over, and said he wants to bring forward the date for phasing out new petrol and diesel cars. in a virtual meeting of the un climate action group, he said the uk would generate hundreds of thousands of newjobs with a green industrial revolution. but environmental experts have expressed scepticism. vietnamese police have seized more than 320,000 used condoms that were to be illegally resold to unsuspecting customers — that's according to local media. footage show dozens of bags in a warehouse that was recently raided in the southern binh duong province. a woman, who was believed to be the owner of the warehouse, has been arrested. the former wimbledon champion, boris becker, has been warned he could be jailed for up

to seven years if found guilty of concealing information about his financial assets. the 52—year—old, who was declared bankrupt in 2017, is accused of not disclosing details about bank accounts, share holdings, and a flat in london. he pleaded not guilty to 19 charges at a london court. the french prime minister is warning it's a race against time to avoid a second coronavirus wave as bad as the first. jean castex said the public must act now to stop a repeat of the peak in spring. it comes as the country records a record number of new cases since mass testing began. 16,096 cases were confirmed in the last 2a hours. i've been speaking to our reporter, mark lobel, about how the situation is developing in france. he says the prime minister, jean castex, is urging the french public to be more careful.

if we were to look at some figures, lewis, in the last 24—hour period, 52 deaths have occurred, up from 43, and if we look at intensive care units in france, there's1,048 patients currently there. and in hospitals, generally, in france, with those patients with covid—19, it's almost 6,000. now, that's the highest it's been for two months. but it's five times less than the amount when it peaked in april. so, there's no sense there's a national lockdown happening yet, but they're very worried about this rise in cases. yeah, good news in a sense those numbers of deaths are still so much lower than the first peak, but the trend is worrying, isn't it? so, what is the government doing now, then? the french prime minister is saying if the french public don't react in the way he's hoping, then he's hinting there will be severe restrictions, possibly leading to lockdowns. at the moment, politicians in paris have decreed that france's second city is in what they call ‘maximum alert‘ status.

so that means in marseille, pubs, bars, restaurants are all closed for two weeks from saturday. there is fury amongst residents — some residents there, and local politicians, that they weren‘t consulted. they also think that it‘s going to push the problem elsewhere. they feel that they are being picked upon. butjean castex was out on french television on thursday night, defending the plan. so i don‘t think is going to budge on that one. and then there‘s what he calls an ‘elevated alert‘, which is assigned to paris and ten other cities, where there will be a curfew in place in bars and restaurants from monday. and also, a rule of ten, so that they won‘t be able to — people won‘t be able to meet in public or private gatherings if you‘re more than ten people. and in terms of sporting events, there was an announcement on wednesday from the health ministry that 1,000 people would be the maximum at major sporting events. there was a question mark over whether roland—garros, the french open, would be affected by that. well, they received the news today from the prime minister

that they would be included. which is a blow to organisers there, they‘d been hoping for at least 5,000 a day. and of course, last year, quite different from the 1,000 that will allowed this year, a day. there were 37,000 fans attending a day. and just briefly, then, what‘s happening across the rest of europe? well, the question is, are we hitting a second wave? well, there‘s 3 million cases now in the uk and the eu combined. spain topping the list with over 700,000 cases, and as we were discussing, marseille there, in southern districts of madrid there‘s a severe lockdown where people aren‘t allowed to leave their houses, or being asked not to leave their houses unless they have to go for essential work or for medical reasons. and in the uk there‘s 6,634 new coronavirus cases in a day, that‘s the largest figure since mass testing began. it is nowhere near the estimated 100,000 that was happening during the peak. but don‘t forget, figures in the uk did dipped below 1,000, so now they are at that height, that level, you know, the government has brought in new rules. curfews on pubs and restaurants from 10pm, this rule of six, where you can‘t meet more than six people inside or outside your house, and of course, they are encouraging people, having told them to go to the office, to the

work from home again. mark lobel. the uk government has outlined plans to try to protect millions ofjobs and the economy over the next six months, as coronavirus restrictions limit growth. under the new scheme, people who are unable to work full—time will have their wages topped up by the government. they have to work at least a third of their normal hours to qualify. i am announcing today the newjobs support scheme. the government will directly support the wages of people in work, giving businesses who face depressed demand the option of keeping employees in a job on shorter hours, rather than making them redundant. the chancellor has insisted the government can only supportjobs which are viable. he admitted this would lead to a rise in unemployment. i cannot save everyjob — no chancellor could. but what we can and must do is deal with the real problems businesses and employees

are facing now. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: constantly accused of kidnap because her child‘s a different race — how one mother‘s trying to change public prejudices. ben johnson, the fastest man on earth, is flying home to canada in disgrace. all the athletes should be clean going into the games. i'm just happy that justice is served. it is a simple fact that this morning, these people were in their homes. tonight, those homes have been burnt down by serbian soldiers and police. all the taliban positions along here have been strengthened, presumably in case the americans invade. it‘s no use having a secret service which cannot preserve its own secrets against the world and so, the british government

has no option but to continue this action even after any adverse judgement in australia. concorde have crossed the atlantic faster than any plane ever before, breaking the record by six minutes. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: donald trump has again questioned if the presidential election can be honest. that‘s despite senior republicans distancing themselves from his comments. france reports a record number of new covid cases since mass testing began. more than 16,000 cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours. nearly a dozen artists in sudan have been sentenced to two months in prison.

it‘s after a court found them guilty of causing a public nuisance when their play rehearsal was broken up by attackers. there‘s concern that despite sudan‘s recent revolution and efforts to democratise the country, creatives and activists are still being targeted. the bbc‘s africa correspondent catherine byara hanga reports. the bbc received these exclusive images of this film—maker secretly filmed from the prison where he spent the past week. he says he‘s been beaten and his once knee length dreadlocks have been forcibly cut in half. in an audio recording he reassures his supporters that he and his coaccused are being treated better after their case drew local and national attention. i hope it‘s going to make a huge change for all artist and all activators.

in actually all the prisoners and all the people who are suffering from these rules that imprison people and give power to the court system that is beyond what is included in human rights and everything. the 44—year—old rose to prominence in 2014 with his film beats of the antonov, which tells the story of the people of the nuba mountains where rebels have for sudan government for nearly a decade. it‘s won the people‘s choice award for documentary at the toronto international film festival. in august, hajooj was arrested with ten others during a play rehearsal in khartoum and have now been sentenced to prison terms over public disturbance charges. they believe they have been targeted for their politics. hajooj was inducted into hollywood‘s academy of motion picture arts and sciences earlier this year.

itjoined calls from filmmakers around the world for the group‘s release. sudan is in the middle of a delicate political transition. mass protest last year toppled 0mar al—bashir‘s regime. hajooj and his coaccused were heavily involved in the movement. a joint military and civilian authority has since taken over, but campaigners are pushing for deeper social and democratic reforms, and say some artists and activists continue to be targeted. women rights and human rights and are still very volatile. an fragile situations. the actors from the past regime, the legaljudiciary, the police and the law itself within the framework itself, this is still in need of reform or change. the transitional government has

yet to comment on his case. the artists hope they will be released on appeal but say they are happy to serve out their sentences if only to show that more reforms are needed instead. adopting a child can be a challenging experience but imagine being accused of kidnapping your new baby. that‘s what regularly happens to key—uh, an african—american woman who adopted a white child. here‘s her story. how much you love your momma? this is princeton and his adopted mum, keia. we had been accused of kidnapping our son, being the nanny, being stopped in restaurants. she captured this moment with a stranger at princeton‘s nursery. how do you know him? how do i know him? yeah. how do i know him? yeah, is he your son? i‘m not a teacher, no. i‘m not his babysitter. keia and her husband ricardo fostered winston when he was a baby and adopted him when he was two. we went to the hospital and we saw him for the first time.

for me, it was just like love at first sight. like, "oh, my gosh, he‘s tiny." but she didn‘t realise how rare their situation was until she went to a foster class and met several white couples caring for black children. we were the only african—american family that had a white child. the other families were like, "we don‘t go through that," and they were crying and they were like, "we feel so bad." the couple from north carolina have two other adopted children, karleigh and ayden, as well as keia‘s biological daughter zariyah. but keia is frustrated at the way some people treat her family. it‘s sad that we have to defend our family all the time against misconceptions or racism or people being just plain rude. so she‘s been using social media to challenge perceptions. every 10 negative things we get, if we get a positive one, then i feel like 0k,

the world is moving in a different direction. a sheep... a sheep! make sure you‘re checking your own vices, prejudices. people who adopt trans—racially are change agents, because we love just to love. i think you will be just fine. it‘s like any other parent parenting their child. facebook says it has dismantled three networks of fake accounts which could have been used by russia‘s intelligence services to disrupt the upcoming us election. the company says the accounts used fake identities, and could have been used to leak hacked documents. it comes as facebook prepares to launch an "oversight board" users will be able to file appeals to the board, which will have the power to over—rule facebook‘s moderators and executives, including mark zuckerberg. our technology reporter

james clayton has more. i think what‘s really clear is that facebook are worried and they are worried because there is a lot of disinformation on their platform form and it‘s a real headache for them. what happens when trump starts talking about postal fraud? what happens if trump says going forward, he‘d won the election when the declared result was a biden win? and so there are lots of difficult decisions going forward, and i think what‘s interesting is this oversight committee, which has been talked about for some months now, is actually going to be up and running before that election and, in theory, that will help facebook because they can say, "look, if this is a really difficult decision, we will hand that over to the committee." that said, this committee will potentially take up to 90 days to make decisions. it acts more as a supreme court passing down case law that facebook than enacts, so if facebook suddenly get caught up in very, very acute problems with all sorts

of claim and counterclaim close to the election, i‘m not sure this oversight committee is going to help that much. kobe bryant was one of the greatest basketball stars of all time. his death earlier this year shocked the world — nowhere more so than los angeles — the city where he played his entire nba career. now — a unique souvenir of his time with the lakers is up for auction — as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. for lakers fans, this number is special, number eight, one of the two numbers kobe bryant war during his career. and along with it, a very special autograph from a very special day. the final piece of confetti day. the final piece of co nfetti ha d day. the final piece of confetti had fallen, one of kobe‘s last act before he

walked off the professional court was to add a large signature to the centre of the number eight. this is a section of the court that kobe bryant played on in his final game for the lakers in 2016. considered one of the greatest farewells and sporting history, he scored 60 points in a victory over the utah jazz. we published an estimate of 500,000 and up. almost nothing would surprise me. if it‘s surpassed the seven ivan figure mark, i would be shocked. bryant was a charismatic and sometimes controversial character but he was undoubtedly a giant of the gang. when he died in a helicopter crash along with his 13—year—old daughter, lanza ‘s that —— and flocked to the sta ples that —— and flocked to the staples centre to pay their respects. kobe bryant made his name on a basketball court. it's name on a basketball court. it‘s where he became a legend. now that basketball court is a for grabs. tim allman, bbc

news. that is it from me. i am on twitter, you can find me there. this is bbc news. hello again. if you went outside on thursday, i‘m sure you noticed a certain autumnal chill in the air. but was it really cold enough for snow? well, actually, this wasn‘t snow, it was a massive hail storm that went through the bradford area and the 0tley area, quite close to leeds in west yorkshire. and you can see the roads and the pavements turned white as those accumulations of hail built up. it must‘ve been quite some storm. now, the satellite picture shows low pressure over the uk with storm clouds rotating around it, and over the next few hours, we are going to see plenty more of those big showers. areas to watch out for, well, west wales in pembrokeshire and also into cornwall, could see some particularly heavy showers here. we‘re also going to see a band of persistent rain affecting parts of east anglia. now, as we go on through friday, pressure builds

actually in the west, and this area of low pressure‘s slow—moving. so, the isobars are going to pinch together. the winds are going to blow even more strongly. it will feel even colder. yes, a day of sunshine and showers, but prolonged outbreaks of rain across parts of eastern england. and there‘s going to be some very strong winds in east anglia. gusts could reach in excess of 60 mph, strong enough potentially to bring down a tree or two, so there could be some transport disruption. and there‘s heavy rain in the forecast, too, particularly lincolnshire into parts of east anglia with around 20—40 millimetres orso, perhaps a bit more in places. we could also see some localised flooding, but away from the east, some sunshine, feeling really cold, though, given the strength of those northerly winds. and those northerly winds continue to blow into saturday, albeit slightly less strongly. it‘s going to be another cold start to the day, and there‘s the threat again of a bit more rain running down into parts of east anglia in particular. further west, actually, pressure‘s building a bit, so it should be a drier kind

of day, showers fewer and farther between. temperatures, though, still struggling and still feeling cold in the wind, and we‘re going to have cold nights around as well. as we head through saturday night, it‘ll be cold enough for some frost patches in the countryside in scotland. we‘ve still got those northerly winds with us as well across eastern parts of england. still potentially a few showers or spots of rain. further west, it‘s brighter with some sunshine. the winds turning a little bit lighter here, so perhaps not feeling quite as chilly. now, looking into the forecast into next week, it stays unsettled with low pressure with us. those temperatures coming up, though, a few degrees. that‘s your weather.

this is bbc news. the headlines: republican leaders in congress have said there will be an orderly transition of powers should president trump lose november‘s election. he appeared to cast doubts on the transition, on wednesday, again raising questions about the probity of the vote, with so many ballots likely to be cast by mail. the french prime minister has warned it is a race against time to avoid a second coronavirus waivers but as the first stop it comes as the country records a record number of cases and is mass testing began —— a second coronavirus wave as bad as the first. and plans to replace the currentjob furlough first. and plans to replace the current job furlough scheme for workers as the uk tries to contain infections.