this bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm mike embley. joe biden says he's on course to win the us presidency as the vote counting continues. i'm not here to declare that we have won but i'm here to report that when the counties finished, we believe we will be the winners. the trump campaign launches legal action to stop vote counting in michigan, pennsylvania and georgia — and wants a recount in wisconsin. and the democrats' hopes of making big gains in the us congressional elections fail to materialise.

hello and welcome. the us presidential election is hanging in the balance — with both donald trump and joe biden saying they are on course for victory. the margins are tight — with just a few thousand votes in a handful of swing states set to decide who wins and who loses. if we take a look at the current state of the electoral map: we can see that michigan has been projected as a biden win, and it looks like he could also win wisconsin — that's the state shaded grey at the top of the map in the great lakes region. taking wisconsin puts him ever closer to winning the electoral college. let's take a look at how the electoral college is adding up — the magic number is 270 electoral votes, which opens the door to the white house.trump is currently on 214 finally let's have look at the popular vote.

it shows us that turnout is on course to be the highest in more than a century. alsojoe biden has collected more votes than his old boss barack obama did in 2008 which means he's already received more votes than any us president — around 71 million. this isjoe this is joe burdon this isjoe burdon who spoke earlier who stop short of claiming victory. here, the people rule, power cannot be taken or asserted, people rule, power cannot be ta ken or asserted, it people rule, power cannot be taken or asserted, it flows from the people. it is there will that determines who will be the president of the united states. and there will align. and now after a long night of counting it is clear that we are winning enough states to win 270 electoral votes to win the presidency. i'm not here to declare we have won but i'm

here to report when the counties finished, we believe we will be the winners. with all the votes counted, we have won wisconsin by 20,000 votes. virtually the same margin that president trump won at state four years ago. in michigan, we lead by over 35,000 votes and it is growing. a substantially bigger margin then president trump won michigan in 2016. 0ur correspondent, ba bara plett usher, is in delaware, where the biden campaign is based. she says even though the democrats are on course for victory. it's now the style they were planning. the democrats were hoping for a blue wave, a blowout victory to give mr biden momentum and a big mandate to repudiate president trump's legacy and push back against it and also to give him a mandate to push

for quite ambitious legislation to deal with the coronavirus epidemic to do with the economy, healthcare and so on and the waiters looking now, it's quite close and will be contentious and there will be litigation over the days, possibly weeks. the democrats are also hoping to get the senate which would have given them control over the house and them control over the house and the senate in order to facilitate joe the senate in order to facilitatejoe biden the senate in order to facilitate joe biden plans the senate in order to facilitatejoe biden plans and at the moment they don't have control of the senate are not looking promising. for him to come out and say we must heal these partisan divisions when actually it has shown how deep those divisions are, it must mean that he sees he has a very uphill road ahead of him. mr trump hasn't spoken in front of the cameras in washington since around half past two in the morning,

in a few tweets earlier — he said — we: certainly some question marks about what he is saying there... that tweet, like several others in a similar vein, has been tagged with a warning by twitter, saying that some of the information is disputed and might be misleading. michigan is one of the places called for mr biden but facing a legal challenge from the trump campaign. 0ur correspondent lebo diseko is in detroit and following developments. it has been a very long night and a very long day here at the centre where ballots were being processed, particularly those postal ballots, very important ballots being counted. around

95% of votes in the state have been counted, as he said, joe biden has won the state. there we re biden has won the state. there were really ugly scenes at the centre earlier, both republicans and democrats saying they were being barred from both entering and entering the room. people were banging on the windows, demanding to be let in. now, that is the basis of donald trump's action in the state and he said that republicans have reviled many full access to review what is happening and observe proceedings here. many have been worried that this result would end up in front of the supreme court and certainly donald trump's actions may well lay the way for that. with such tight results, trust in this process is going to be really important.

the democrats are expected to remain control of the house but with a reduced majority in the senate, unable to unseat susan collins who fought off a strong challenge. they needed to gain three orfour challenge. they needed to gain three or four senate seats to gain control and so far they have made a net gain ofjust one. democratic strategist cristina antelo joins me now from washington. i suspect been a lot of and not not a lot of sleeping! that is right, thanks for having me. how difficult is it to become president if your party does not control the senate? we have been watching donald trump with the same problem was not controlling the house so it's divided government to many consider that gridlock and it could happen. nothing would happen. but i'm actually taking a more positive view. mitch mcconnell has been in the senate for 36 years, i think.

he isa senate for 36 years, i think. he is a master legislator, strategist and tactician and joe biden, we cannot forget he started his career in the senate and has a long relationship with mitch mcconnell and they know each other well and they are on opposite sides but know how to deal with each other and what i seen the mitch mcconnell statement today, we do not hear from many republicans making announcements but the announcements but the announcement mitch made went towards saying he was not ready towards saying he was not ready to get to work on a lame duck and pase coronavirus relief aid with nancy pelosi. we have not seen that kind of engagement throughout the summer from him and he knew he had tough elections for his republican senators trying to come back but i think if you know that donald trump is not coming back, then he is ready to do with the democrats. assuming nothing, joe biden is not president yet, what is his path to victory because he is not there yet, i'm assuming you will say pennsylvania and michigan or arizona and nevada?

ido michigan or arizona and nevada? i do think it is arizona, nevada, and michigan and i think we take those and get to 270 exactly. pennsylvania and georgia may be become the fallback just in case. georgia may be become the fallbackjust in case. that goes to the point thatjoe biden has multiple pass to get to 270 whereas president trump has one path, only through pennsylvania and that's why you see him fighting so desperately to claim there and not allow those votes to be counted and is county results everywhere else because he doesn't have any option. this is the only way you can try to keep the mouth alive, if not the vote. ifjoe biden gets one of the pairs, he does not need the other pair to get to 270? that is exactly right. whatever happens, there will be many of people, millions and millions of people who are going to be opposed to the result, whoever wins and it seems millions and millions of people who will think that the process possibly the whole structure of

democracy in the united states, is broken. how to reconcile with those people?” is broken. how to reconcile with those people? i think it sta rts with those people? i think it starts with the speech thatjoe biden gave today. i conciliatory tone, not an arrogant one. one that talks about unity and creating unity not one looking to stoke more and more division, so, ithink by definition, if donald trump is re—elected and president trump is still there for another four years, it grows increasingly worse. i'm hopeful that even with a slick government, with republicans retaining the check and balance that the founding fathers created on purpose to make sure that there is not some liberal agenda that donald trump has scared folks into thinking that socialists were taking over, that somehow we would become communists under this new power structure, i think people will inherently see that the democracy we created, the founding fathers created, actually does work, the checks and balances of the senate,

with the republican senate with mitch mcconnell working there will come up with good by patterson solutions and seeing that for the next two years will do a lot of good for our constituents — bipartisan solutions are. you would have to acknowledge that even if trump loses the presidency, he has shaped the country already for a generation, quite possibly, what is done with the supreme court, three conservative appointments and hundreds ofjudges conservative appointments and hundreds of judges throughout the wider system? absolutely and so many other ways other than that. we have republicans and democrats are now there is trump ism, a whole new animal. and pollsters don't harder when out — account for that and that is why the pulse was so wrong, and democrats are looking for the blue wave that did not materialise that we did not know how to account for the thinking and attitudes in the community. we need to take that into account because there is something there that he spoke toa something there that he spoke to a disaffected voter and encourage them and motivated them to come out and i think

both parties need to take an accounting of that to figure out how do we bring the folks into the fold and make them feel like they are part of the conversation and they are cared about and provided for with this government. how indeed you do that? many people were telling pollsters the way the pandemic with handle, they didn't like it, they felt the economy was safer in the hands of donald trump and this is despite their democrats think they rebuilt the economy after they rebuilt the economy after the 2008 votes and then still got more votes? i agree, democrats seem to do betterjob on talking about the economy, number one they said they were worried about the economy in 2020 and they were worried and thought it would be a lockdown, et cetera lockdown and that the economy will come to a standstill like it did in march andi standstill like it did in march and i don't think that is what joe biden was saying. but that is what donald trump is spitting it to be and people believed him. i don't think

thatis believed him. i don't think that is at all what the democrats was saying. they were saying please reopen but responsibly, safely, with eyes as the basis got taken to mean that if you wear a mask we will shut down. that is why we saw this mutiny about even wearing a mask! even though the site says that is the most helpful thing we can do for each other! the other thing about it is the tax cuts, the trump tax cuts, even though they didn't help the middle class almost at all, though mostly for big operations they messaged it that made the middle—class think they got $200, better than nothing, and there are no place before. i feel than nothing, and there are no place before. ifeel badly because i feel that was a wool pulled over their eyes in exchange for again the millionaires and corporations getting so much money in exchange! and i think the democrats did not message that well and i communicate that well and i communicate that well and i communicate that well and they get too long winded when explaining it and

we need to do a much betterjob on talking about that to constituents but also thinking about that when we create our own tax policies. some arguments to be had, as i'm sure you know. we will have to leave it there. thank you very much. thank you. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: we're on the election trail in arizona, joe biden says he's on course to overturn donald trump's hold on this key state. the israeli prime minister, yitzhak rabin, the architect of the middle east peace process, has been assassinated. a 27—year—old jewish man has been arrested, and an extremist jewish organisation has claimed responsibility for the killing. on a historic day for australia. as the results came in, it was clear — the monarchy would survive.

of the american hostages, there was no sign. they are being held somewhere inside the compound and student leaders have threatened that, should the americans attempt to rescue, they will all die. this mission has surpassed all expectations. voyager one is now the most distant man—made object anywhere in the universe, and itjust seems to keep on going. tonight, we prove once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but the enduring power of our ideals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: joe biden says he's on course to win the us presidency as the vote counting continues. the trump campaign launches legal action to stop vote counting in michigan, pennsylvania and georgia, and wants a recount in wisconsin.

winning the swing state of pennsylvania is key to winning the white house. but authorities there say the record number of postal votes has put extra pressure on officials, which is why the count has still to be officially declared. 0ur correspondent clive myrie explains. there is an irony in the middle of all of this because in some of all of this because in some of those battleground states where there is a huge contra rosary over the counting of mail—in ballots and absentee ballots, as here in philadelphia and pennsylvania, its republican lawmakers who refused to allow the local authorities, mainly democrats, to start the process of counting those absentee ballots earlier in the election cycle. now, what are we left with? chaos, anger, and recrimination. all this should be redundant now. the election ephemera of the night before. it is the morning after election day. and as we very well knew might be the case,

we are still awaiting a result... here in pennsylvania — and a handful of other crucial states in america — conversations reflect an election still in play. 0ver breakfast tables this morning, and possibly dinner tables tomorrow night. marie pizzo and mary lorenzo are sprightly 80—somethings who've seen a lot in their lives, but nothing like this. they've got a lot of... ..lots of votes yet to count. i always say, "may the better man win, and let's hope that when they are in office, they do the right thing." period. but who will be in office? it's still unclear. here in philadelphia, they were counting absentee and mail—in ballots through the night — with a million left to process by the morning. and now the trump campaign is taking legal action in pennsylvania.

the man leading the count told me he's unconcerned. i want it over with two more than anyone else, i assure you. but that being said, we have to get it right. we cannot get it wrong. there are no do overs when it comes to counting elections. but why all the problems? covid—i9. republicans are comfortable voting in person while democrats voted by mail. that's where we are... listen to brian rosenwald, a former senior election official here in philadelphia. you have to open in pennsylvania an outer envelope, check a signature, then separate out an inner envelope, open that one, and then get the ballot out. it takes time when you're talking about hundreds of thousands of ballots in some of these counties. and the public officials in pennsylvania, in michigan, wisconsin all said it was going to take time. you voted back in october? october 23. in the middle of all the chaos, seemingly forgotten, the voter. debbie smith checked online

last night to see if her early vote had been counted, and she couldn't find it. it wasn't there. it stilljust said mail—in. are you nervous it still might not be there? i know. so now it's there. it's there and recorded. so it's there. late afternoon and other worried voters are on the streets. they all completed their ballots in good faith. will america respect their wishes? clive myrie, bbc news, in philadelphia. donald trump won the state of arizona four years ago, but this time joe biden's people say they're ahead now. 0ur correspondent sophie long reports from arizona. we believe one of the nets has suggested we've already won arizona, we are confident about arizona. that's a turnaround. in arizona, we have a lot of life in that and somebody

said, somebody declared, it was a victory, and maybe it will be. after a premature call, words urging calm and caution, counting continues, and there's still no categoric confirmation that arizona will go tojoe biden. though some news networks and democrats have called it. arizona did thejob, so we still have to make sure that every vote is counted, because we want everyone's voices to be heard, but arizona showed up and showed out today, and i'm so proud of my state, and i'm so proud of my county. democratic success here is the result of cultural and demographic shifts. and months of street pounding, doorknocking, and some of the most frenzied campaigning this state ever seen. republicans who gathered to celebrate saving their state from the liberal left packed up a party that never got started. i am discouraged and a little down about arizona, but i'm still hopeful for nationally,

that we are going to win. trump is a very solid, excellent candidate. arizona just has some leadership issues, at the governor and arizona republican party level. 0thers, though, are refusing to concede defeat, and talking about recounts, protests and legal challenges. the expectation is they have their act together and we see results tonight, then hopefully they are positive for the president. and it looks like right now like they are trending that way, and i think the biden campaign is getting very nervous about that because they think they have to win arizona. if they don't win arizona, they're toast. after a night of confusion, what is clear is that the once reliably republican grand canyon state is now a true battle ground, and the fact the fight is so close reflects the deep chasm that continues to divide people here and in states across the country. sophie long, bbc news, arizona. over this entire election has hung the cloud of legitimacy. there are already lawyers and legal wrangling, contested cou nts a nd

accusations of fraud. the president set the narrative early on for this, suggesting mail in ballots would be stolen and that if he lost it would be through foul play. the last time a presidential election outcome was this contested, it went all the way to the supreme court. the bbc‘s gabriel gatehouse asks what we might learn from the infamous florida vote two decades ago. the voting has finished and still, there is no result. an anxious nation waits. we have been here before, 20 years ago, in what feels like a distant era. excuse me one second. florida goes for al gore. there isa florida goes for al gore. there is a lot of uncertainty and confusion about who want florida. the network has called this thing but the people actually counting the boats are coming up with a different perspective and so, we are upbeat about things. florida pulled back into the undecided column. in 2000, florida held

the key, whoever won the sunshine state would take the presidency. bush wins, headline of the hour, headline of the year. al gore was on his way to make his concession speech having a ready phone his rival when his team told him to wait. cbs news says now that florida has pulled back. this race is simply too close to call, and until the results of the recount is concluded, and the results in florida become official, our campaign continues. it was the election of the hanging, inconclusive ballot papers that held the result of the whole election in the balance. 36 days of legal, bureaucratic warfare over which ballots were to be counted, and ultimately, this is well of litigation ended up at the doorstep of the supreme court to. the supreme court

eventually ruled for bush and the rest as they say, is history. today we are still a long way from the drama of 2000. no—one is talking about the supreme court, yet. no—one has called the selection yet. no—one, that is, apart from the president himself. 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? the partisan rivalries in 20 years ago were no less better than they are today, but what is different is the tone. no matter what the outcome, america will make the transition to a new administration with dignity, with all respect for the freely expressed will of the people, and with pride in the democracy we are privileged to share. some still believe that bush got fewer votes in al gore 20

yea rs got fewer votes in al gore 20 years ago, but when the supreme court ruled that was it, its legitimacy was not questioned. the selection continues to test america's faith in its institutions, by whatever means an eventual win is secured. let's remind you of our top story in case you needed, still no definitive result in the tightest american election in a generation. joe biden has secured more votes than any other person who has ever run for president but has still not reach that magic threshold of 270 in the electoral college, the number he needs to clean the number he needs to clean the white house. his part of that number does look easier than that of his opponent donald trump, if mr biden with pennsylvania and michigan he can be sure of capturing the white house, or heavy does not windows and winds arizona and nevada, arizona with 11, nevada with six, he is wholly dry, but as we say, no definitive result as we say, no definitive result as of yet and the trunk campaign is requesting a total

recount in wisconsin, and has filed a lawsuit to hold the counting in michigan until from observers are given access to the counter. that's it for now, thank you for watching. hello there. it's pretty cold out there at the moment across more southern parts of the uk. wednesday started with some frost quite widely in england and wales. what followed was a generally dry and sunny autumn day. but, for scotland and northern ireland, we saw more cloud moving in during the afternoon and the evening. you can see that clearly on the satellite picture from earlier on. that cloud moving very slowly southwards. we actually have weakening weather front bringing some damp and drizzly weather and lowering the cloud onto the hills. but we've got high pressure across the south, this is where we've got the clearer skies and we've got those lower temperatures as well. milder in the north, but colder in the south. maybe some frost around for mid wales, midlands and southwards. notjust some frost, some mist and fog too. that's going to be dense

in places in the morning. gradually through the morning that will tend to lift and break. may take a while in the home counties, mind you. then we get sunshine coming through. but, for north wales, northern england it looks quite cloudy, damp and misty over the hills. further north, we've got more of a breeze from the atlantic. that's significant. it's blowing in a lot of cloud but the cloud breaks to the east of the high ground in a bit of scotland. and a bit of warm, 15 or 16 degrees. elsewhere ten to 12. similar to what we had on wednesday. this time in the morning we've got much more mist and fog around. and into friday morning, again there will be dense patches of fog. again it's more likely for the midlands southwards. this time on friday that fog will tend to lift more readily. the breeze will pick up a little bit more and we should see sunshine developing. further north, some low cloud around, misty over the hills. cloud tending to thin, some sunshine coming through away from the northwest. the temperatures ten to 12 degrees again. a little bit milder perhaps towards the south east, but the winds are picking up

in the far southwest. the wind direction is changing just in time for the weekend. that's going to be quite significant because that's going to draw up some milder air and push it very slowly northwards. instead of the high pressure that's keeping it quiet at the moment, it'll be quite cold. that's moving away towards continental europe. and lowering pressure from iberia means we've got the threat of some rain coming up from the south. maybe the odd shower around on saturday rain across northern and western areas on sunday. temperatures gradually rising. higher temperatures towards the south possibly up to 16 or 17 c.

this is bbc news. the headlines: joe biden says he's on course to win the us presidency as vote counting continues. michigan is projected as a biden win, and it looks like he could also win wisconsin, putting him ever closer to winning the electoral college. european monitors described the election as competitive and well managed. the trump campaign has launched legal action to stop vote counting in michigan, pennsylvania, and georgia — accusing democrats of scheming to disenfranchise republican voters. mr trump's campaign has also called for their to be a recount of ballots in wisconsin saying there had been reports of irregularities. the democrats are expected to remain in control of the house of representatives, but with a reduced majority. in the senate they were unable to unseat republican susan collins. the democrats needed to gain three senate seats to take control.