no winner yet in the us presidential election. both sides are predicting a victory with the result in key states on a knife edge. joe biden has told supporters he's still on track to win the white house. donald trump has claimed victory even though millions of votes are still being counted. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. we are going to have to be patient until the hard work of tallying the votes has finished. and it ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted. president trump says he's ready to launch a supreme court challenge

alleging electoral fraud, but without providing any evidence. americans are waking up to great uncertainty, a result could take days or even weeks to emerge and the electoral process itself is now under strain. we'll have the latest from across the us. also this lunchtime... nhs england is to move to its highest alert level at midnight, just as the country enters a month—long coronavirus lockdown. all nonessential businesses in england must close, including barbers and hairdressers. there is furlough help for workers, but there's still concern about the impact on the economy. and the funeral has been held for police sergeant matt ratana who was shot dead in a custody suite in south london. coming up on the bbc news channel, we have all the latest news on the race to the white house, bringing you the key developments

in the us presidential election. good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. there is no clear winner in the race for the white house after a dramatic night across the united states. for the white house after a dramatic millions of votes still haven't been counted, and turnout looks likely to be the highest in a century. after performing better than predicted, donald trump has already claimed victory and vowed to launch a supreme court challenge, claiming electoral fraud but without presenting evidence of any. his rivaljoe biden described the threat as outrageous and unprecedented and said every vote must be counted. with the nation on edge, the final result may not be known for days. let's have a look at the latest

electoral college figures. biden currenly has 224 and trump 213. 270 are needed for victory. the result is likely to hinge on what happens in the so—called rustbelt states such as pennsylvania, which may not declare for some time. ourfirst report is from our correspondent in washington, ben wright. in the early hours of the morning, donald trump tried to discredit this election. millions of votes have yet to be counted, neither candidate has won but, speaking in the white house, the president prematurely claimed victory and then said this. this is a fraud on the american public. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election.

for months, donald trump has claimed, without any evidence, that postal voting leads to fraud. this pandemic election saw tens of millions of americans vote by mail and in several key states those legitimate ballots are still being processed. mr trump has now threatened to go to the supreme court before the count is complete. this is uncharted territory for the united states. we want the law to be used in a proper manner. so we will be going to the us supreme court. we want all voting to stop. we don't want them to find any ballots at four o'clock in the morning and add them to the list, 0k? joe biden‘s team called the president's statement outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect and, when the democratic candidate spoke to supporters, he told them to hold their nerve. your patience is commendable. we knew this was going to go long

but who knew we were going to go into maybe tomorrow morning, maybe even longer? but look, we feel good about where we are. we really do. i am here to tell you tonight, we believe we are on track to win this election. at first, americans watched election night unfold without drama, the two candidates clocking up states they were expected to win. but early results also pointed to a much tighter election than the polls had suggested. democrats had dreamed of blocking donald trump's path to the white house by winning florida but the president's vote stayed strong. president trump has won florida. joe biden visited ohio yesterday but it too stayed red. it soon became clear that this would be another nail—biting race that would be decided by half a dozen states. in north carolina, the democratic governor called for patience.

i know that there are a lot of important races that are still too close to call. and we must let the process work, to be sure that all the legal votes are counted. in front of the white house, on a street now known as black lives matter plaza, protesters met police. this is an anxious moment for a divided country. in the absence of a landslide win by one candidate it was always possible this election could be dragged into the courts. both sides have been preparing for a legal battle over postal votes that could tip the balance either way. turnout in this election was huge but a lengthy and contested wait for a result will keep this polarised nation on edge. ben wright, bbc news, washington. donald trump has threatened to go to the supreme court to challenge the counting of votes. aides tojoe biden say they also have legal teams on standby. our north america correspondent david willis reports now on the possibility of a dramatic

legal battle ahead. donald trump has long maintained postal votes are prone to fraud, even though there is no evidence to support that claim. we want to make sure the election is honest and i'm not sure it can be, i don't know that it can be with this whole situation, unselected ballots, they are unsolicited, millions being sent to everybody. by casting doubt on the legitimacy of postal ballots, the legitimacy of postal ballots, the president is hoping the courts will rule that the counting has to stop. that would mean millions of votes like this would be deemed illegitimate and thus would go uncounted. his focus is on pennsylvania, a swing state which could determine the outcome of this election. last weekend the supreme court decided counting there could go on until the end of the week, a decision mr trump lambasted, claiming it could lead to violence

on the streets. it's a very dangerous thing for our country. and i hope the supreme court has the wisdom to change it because they can't let it stand. donald trump's repeated claims of voter fraud echo claims made during the 2000 presidential election. gauke versus bush was ultimately decided by the supreme court which ruled the recount in florida had to stop —— gore. the president's intervention in this election is a different point of the difference is we have several states and the president thinks he might have taken away from him and of course florida, it was just one. the difference from a due process argument was that some counties were counting and others went and they were using different standards so the similarities between florida and what might happen in this year are entirely different. in a statement, the president of the biden campaign said donald trump's attempt to shut down the counting ofjulie cast alex was

outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect. she went on that if the president makes good on his threat to go to court to try to prevent proper tabulation of votes, we have legal team is standing by to deploy to resist that epic —— counting of julie cast votes. mr trump may have a secret weapon in the form of his latest addition to the supreme court, amy coney barrett. her appointmentjust a court, amy coney barrett. her appointment just a week court, amy coney barrett. her appointmentjust a week before the election gave the highest court in the land a conservative majority and won the president will be hoping would find in his favour. with the outcome of this election on a knife edge, the prospect of legal challenges in the days and weeks ahead will do little to assuage the growing sense of tension in this bitterly divided nation. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the route to the white house is about individual state battles across the us. let's hear about results in some of the key areas, starting with pennsylvania.

we always suspected the keys to the white house might run through pennsylvania and indeed it does appear to be the case. as pennsylvanians went to sleep, though, the result of this state were not yet clear, despite the fact that donald trump touted that he had a lead here in pennsylvania. that being said, there are still many ballots left to be counted and indeed, many postal votes still need to be taken into account. there is also the fact that some counties stopped their count and said they would resume in the morning. what does all of this mean? well, we could be waiting a long time before we find out which way the keystone state goes. four years ago, michigan was the closest of all the races, donald trump winning by less than a quarter of a percent. this time round, joe biden hoped he would win by turning all of these

midwestern states which had turned republican red, democratic blue again but early voting is complicating matters. they are still counting the ballots here in michigan and beforehand, officials were warning us it could take several days before the final result is known. once again, it seems that this us election is coming down to what happens here in the midwest. our correspondent ben wright is in washington. following all of this, and all about some of those key states now? we are focusing on the same few swing states that we were four years ago, it is extraordinary in some ways how little has changed in that time. donald trump has managed to get his bass out and even thoughjoe biden has a strong turnout, the site up pretty evenly matched which is why this is on a knife edge. it is the

same states, pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin and we are now hearing wisconsin and we are now hearing wisconsin is very tight and that is where everybody will be looking at the mail in ballots that are there in huge numbers, where they will go. secretaries of state, people who run the elections in the states, or want to carry on as they planned to, counting the votes methodically over the next few days and they have been candid it could take some time but you have the statement from donald trump which was extraordinary for a president to make but not wholly surprising. he has been saying for months that if it looked like it would be a close election, he clearly planned to attack the integrity of the system and question the validity of mail—in ballots, even though there is absolutely no evidence there is fraud connected to that way of voting. this is on a knife edge, we don't know when it will resolve but it is clearly a test for american democracy. ben, thank you for now. well, reeta chakrabarti has been looking in detail at the results

so far and what the path to victory looks like for either man. this is the state of play as it stands. joe biden on 224 electoral college votes, donald trump on 213. nail—bitingly close. the states you can see here in grey are the states still to be decided and it is the case that we may be waiting for some time. we know, for example, that nevada has suspended counting until tomorrow afternoon, 5pm uk time, so we will know know what has happened there. —— we will not know. we know in the north—east, states like michigan and pennsylvania are taking their time to count the early ballots, the postal votes, so it may well be some time before we know what is happening there. let's take a close look at pennsylvania. too early to project, as you can see. donald trump with a healthy lead overjoe biden there but take a look at this. there is still a quarter of all the votes to be counted. that is about 1.7 million votes.

they include the votes from big cities like philadelphia and pittsburgh which are going to be democratic leaning. expect that gap between the two candidates to shrink quite considerably over time. how does each person gain the keys to the white house? well, let's plot a route first of all for the challenger, joe biden. i am going to use my blue pen here. let us assume he retains nevada, which was democratic last time round, and let us also assume that he gets three electoral college votes in maine. they are optimistic, the democrats are optimistic of arizona which would give them 11 electoral college votes and there are swings towards the democrats, small swings but swings nonetheless, in wisconsin and also in michigan and if that were to happen, that getsjoe biden to the magic 270 which is what he needs to get

into the white house. let me take you back to the state of play and do just the same thing for donald trump, this time using the red pen. conversely, for this scenario, let us assume donald trump does succeed in keeping arizona and that he also retains georgia and north carolina for the republicans. you can see that takes him to 255 votes — he is short by 15 of winning. if we then see if he wins pennsylvania, that takes him over that magic line to 275. but he does need to win pennsylvania. it has been said many times during this campaign that pennsylvania is probably key to this election and it does look as if it probably is. reeta chakra barti with reeta chakrabarti with the latest. our top story...

no winner yet in the us presidential election — both sides are predicting a victory with the result in key states on a knife edge. this is an embarrassment to our country. we were getting ready to win this election. frankly, we did win this election. cheering. we are going to have to be patient until the hard work of counting the votes is finished, and it ain't over until every vote is counted, every ballot is counted. and coming up, we will have all the latest news on the race for the white house, bringing you the key developments in the us presidential election. nonessential businesses across england have to close this evening for at least the next month. the government has extended the furlough scheme to help workers,

but there's still real concern about the economic impact of this lockdown. the high street is already under pressure. today marks & spencer announced its first ever loss and john lewis has announced plans to cut 1,500 jobs at its head office. our business correspondent emma simpson reports from bedford on firms shutting their doors during lockdown. it is starting to hit me that tomorrow the door is shut and that is it for another month. so today every head counts. at this barbershop in bedford they have crammed two weeks' worth of business into a few days, working late before lockdown. i am pretty sure we will get some support from the government and stuff, but we are going to be losing a lot of money over the coming month. and the unpredictability of it, if it is only a month. in the town centre a last—minute dash to the shops. what have you been buying? christmas cards and a few other bits and pieces. i did get a few presents so that at least if it doesn't open

in december we've got some bits. i'm just coping with it, same as we did last time. what will be will be, there is nothing we can do about it, there is no point worrying about it, is there? this couldn't come at the worst time for the retail and hospitality industry, slap bang in the run—up to christmas where many businesses make most of their profits. they started christmas early at this shop, worried about another lockdown. now they are racing to sell their products online. i am furiously taking pictures of everything in the shop and getting it onto the website. i am a bit anxious about being able to sell all this because the worst thing is to have a tonne of christmas stock that has to go into storage that has been paid for that we are not making any money on. down the road at the foresters‘ arms they are barely breaking even, but they are doing some cut—price paints tonight so they don't pints tonight so they don't have to throw beer away. this lockdown feels harder. i think we sort of took our medicine

before, thinking it was the right thing to do for the greater good. and this time round we have put every safety measure in place, everyone is following the rules very well and it almost seems a step backwards now. they will start takeaways to help them through. like all businesses affected theyjust hope they will be able to reopen for december. emma simpson, bbc news, bedford. as mps prepare to vote on lockdown measures in england, it's been announced that the health service in the country will be placed on the highest alert level at midnight when the new lockdown rules come into force. people are being told to stay at home except for education, work that can't be done from home, medical reasons and exercise. let's take a close look at some of the rules. restaurants and pubs will close, with only takeaways allowed. non essential shops will have to shut, that includes hairdressers and barbers. chemists and post offices are among businesses allowed to stay open. meetings between households in homes

or in private gardens will be banned unless as part of a support bubble. you can still meet one other person in a public space, for a walk in a park for example. schools, colleges, nurseries and universities are remaining open. our health correspondent anna collinson reports. winter is always a difficult time for the health service, but never so more than in 2020. this morning, a warning from the head of nhs england that unless more is done seasonal pressures combined with a second coronavirus wave could overwhelm them. the facts speak for themselves. in early september we had under 500 coronavirus patients in our hospitals. by the beginning of october that had become 2000. and 110w of october that had become 2000. and now it is around 11,000. that is the equivalent of 22 of our hospitals

full of coronavirus patients. in many ways the nhs is better prepared for the second wave, with better treatments and protective personal equipment. a vaccine is expected to be available at the start of next year and be available at the start of next yearand gps are be available at the start of next year and gps are being prepared to administer them in case one is available before christmas. 92% of beds were occupied last autumn. this year it is estimated it is around 80%. but official data shows coronavirus hospital admissions in england are rising and additional pressures in winter are heavy with seasonal illnesses like flu. nhs england has now confirmed the health service will move to its highest alert level from midnight tonight in response to a serious situation ahead. many hospitals in the known hotspots have seen a rise in the number of patients admitted to hospital and in fact in my own hospital and in fact in my own hospital we are now seeing numbers admitted to hospital higher than those that we saw during the peak in mid april. we are all concerned

about the impact this is going to have not just on about the impact this is going to have notjust on patients, but their families and our health care workers as well. mps have criticised this winter modelling which was shown during saturday's downing street briefing to justify a second lockdown. the chief scientific adviser has apologised if the data caused confusion, but says without tougher restrictions the epidemic will continue to grow. the prime minister has said the government will publish new guidance for visits to care homes in england during the coronavirus pandemic later today. our social affairs correspondent alison holt is here. what more do we know? it is one of the most distressing topics of the whole lockdown, isn't it? it is and there will be families and friends of people in care homes who are waiting for that guidance because they are desperate to be able to keep seeing the people they love during the lockdown. they say there has been a real impact on the

emotional well—being of residents who they are unable to see. the pm said the guidance will be published today but we do not have details yet. what i understand will be the principle underlying it is that care homes will be encouraged and supported to enable safe visits. the key word is safe. in the first wave of the pandemic we had such a high number of deaths in care homes. in terms of what that will mean in practice, we will have to look at the details of the guidance, but i expect it will be saying that you tailor the visit to the situation in the care home and the needs of the residents. it might be a window visit, it might be a part in the garden or a room with perspex down the middle where a resident can come in from one side and a relative can visit from another side. i do not expect there to be any more information about plans for a pilot scheme on key worker status for

named relatives. that would give people access to testing and also ppe, allowing them to go into home in the same way as a member of staff might. my understanding is we are unlikely to get any more information on that and that will cause huge frustration because that frustration was already building and it will not bea was already building and it will not be a massive change in the way in which visits go on. but the key principle is that they must happen where it is possible, safely. alison, thank you. austrian police investigating monday's terrorist attack in vienna have arrested 1a people in a series of raids. two arrests have also been made in switzerland. four people were killed in the rampage. the gunman, described as a 20—year—old islamist terrorist, was shot dead by police as he fired on passers—by. the funeral has taken place of police sergeant matt ratana, who was shot dead in a custody suite

in south london in september. close family and friends gathered for the small service. the metropolitan police commissioner, cressida dick, has paid tribute to sergeant ratana as a "truly skilled officer", and said he is huge loss to the force. our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports. because of the pandemic, there was no grand metropolitan police funeral for sergeant matt ratana, apparently shot dead by a prisoner brought into his police custody suite. instead, a very personal ceremony combining his police, rugby and gym life. # we face high mountains # across rough seas... we miss you, we honour you, we won't forget you, and, to quote one

of your teams who love and love you dearly, we will take it from here, sarge. matt ratana was half new zealander, half scottish, a man of maori ancestry who his partner said would eat, sleep, walk, talk and played rugby. he went to work as a custody sergeant on the night of the 24th of september and never came home. his ashes will be returned to his family in new zealand. daniel sandford, bbc news. let's return to our main story, the uncertain outcome to the us presidential election. the lack of clarity has made the global markets nervous. our global trade correspondent dharshini david is here. what has been happening? they have been watching every twist and turn

of the last few hours. what investors around the world want to see is a scenario where we see a generous stimulus package for the us economy, money spent by the government to cushion the blow. that matters for all of us, notjust american consumers and jobs, but american consumers and jobs, but american shoppers make up nearly 10% of global gdp and what they do matters to our livelihoods. the markets expected a more generous package with presidentjoe biden in the white house, but it became clear that the so—called blue wave, meant the markets took a bit of a dip as president trump spoke and it became clear that this was a tight battle and it could be quite protracted as well. it might take longer to get help for the american economy and it might not be so generous. the shares have recovered somewhat. the markets are feeling calm because they are watching and waiting, butjust an hour to go until the american market

is open and we could see real drama. those futures, the expectations of what might be happening there is all over the place at the moment. make no mistake, what happens over there will affect investors and livelihoods all over the globe. will affect investors and livelihoods all over the globe. let's return to our correspondent ben wright again in washington. we have a long wait ahead. we do. this could ricochet in any number of directions. it could be in the next 24 directions. it could be in the next 2a hours or so those key states, arizona, wisconsin, pennsylvania, come to a conclusion with their counting and we get a result and the election is decided one way or the other. and both donald trump and joe biden can see a path through the remaining part of the electoral couege remaining part of the electoral college to victory. that might happen. at the same time, this could become a contested election bogged down in the courts and the state

where we might see that happen most likely is pennsylvania. it as another dimension to an election that was already extraordinary, happening within the context of a pandemic, an economic slump, a divisive president seeking real action from a completely polarised country. for that reason many americans, no matter which way they voted, wanted this to be a clean result one way or the other. that may have helped heal divisions here, thatis may have helped heal divisions here, that is not going to happen. america had a contested election in the course in 2000 and after that everybody said this must never happen again, and yet here we are. ben wright in washington. time for a look at the weather. here's chris fawkes. last month was not only exceptionally wet, it was also more cloudy than normal. it makes a nice change to see clouds like these in

england and wales. but in the afternoon thick cloud will work their way in across the snow capped mountains in scotland and north—west england. indeed, a shower stream is set up in the north channel and will bring showers to the isle of man, north wales and the west of england, with the wettest area around the wirral. away from this it is a fine afternoon with plenty of sunshine. turning cloudy for scotland and northern ireland and in the far north of scotland we will see a band of rain moving. that is associated with a warm front, so damp weather pushes into scotland and slipped southwards overnight with the front weakening. hill fog patches across the north and potentially quite dense patches of fog in england and wales where it will be another cold night. eventually it turns milder later in the night in scotland and northern ireland as that mild air

works its way in. over the