this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm samantha simmonds. joe biden says he's on course to win the us presidency, but the vote counting continues. i'm not here to declare that we've won, but i'm here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. the trump campaign launches legal action to try to stop the counting in michigan, pennsylvania and georgia, and wants a recount in wisconsin. we visit a so—called swing state, where the record number of postal votes mean they've got a lot on their plates. and a month—long lockdown to reverse the rise in covid cases begins in england.

hello and welcome. with victory projected in two crucial midwest states, the democratic party challenger, joe biden, says he's confident he's on course to win the white house. but a handful of states remain too close to call and officials warn it may be days before the final result is known. president trump's campaign has begun legal action to try to stop vote counting in georgia, an important battleground where his lead overjoe biden continues to narrow. the president's team has also filed legal challenges in michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. mark lobel wraps up all the latest developments. could the 77—year—old be on course for victory? he and his supporters are growing more and more confident of it.

i'm not here to declare that we've won, but i am here to report, when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. that's because the much predicted blue wave, though slow in coming, and smaller in size than many pollsters predicted, may now be breaking through. buoyed by a projected democrat win in the key state of michigan, and with both wisconsin and perhaps pennsylvania and georgia swinging towards biden, it may not be long now. but donald trump's team is claiming voterfraud, despite no evidence to back up his claims. and the democrats know that the only way that they can win this election is to cheat in pennsylvania. and we've seen it from day one. we've seen it from day one. his team has filed a lawsuit in georgia, michigan, and pennsylvania, seeking to pause the states‘ counts there. they've already demanded a recount in wisconsin — which they're entitled to. at key swing states they continue to count postal votes.

now all eyes are on wisconsin, pennsylvania, north carolina, nevada, and georgia. joe biden still needs to get to that 270 mark, whatever his opponent says. we will win this. and as far as i'm concerned, we already have won it. and echoing the president's call for counting of votes to now stop, these trump supporters called for a halt at this account in detroit, michigan. show me what democracy looks like! this is what democracy looks like! that has caused cou nter— protests across the country from democrats — with their message being to protect the vote. donald trump is adamant there are serious questions to answer about the handling of this election. it may be that the courts do get involved, but for now the feeling is that the colour of victory that at first looked trump red may now be turning a biden blue.

mark lobel, bbc news. let's bring you some live pictures from fulton county, georgia, where ballots are being counted. they said they had hoped to declare a result within the next few hours and by the end of the note, local time. 95% of the estimated vote tally so far, donald trump has 49.7%, biden has 49.1%, according to local research there. our north america correspondent, david willis, joins us from los angeles. welcome to you. good to see you. bring us up—to—date on where we are at, then? we are expecting new voting totals in the next hour or so from the key swing states of arizona and georgia, arizona with 11 electoral college votes up for grabs there, 86% of the votes have been counted and we are

expecting an update from the area that includes the key city of phoenix. the fox news channel here in the united states actually called arizona, which has been a strongly republican state over the years forjoe biden yesterday night, before hastily withdrawing that assessment. voting continues there and in georgia, as a mention. 16 electoral college votes up for grabs in georgia, 95% of the vote counted there, and vote counting continues overnight, as indeed it does in that big swing state of pennsylvania. 20 electoral couege pennsylvania. 20 electoral college votes up for grabs there, and joe biden, who has projected victory in michigan and wisconsin, hoping to add that blue wave, as it were, of the former rust belt states to his tally stop that would include of course pennsylvania

and three states which donald trump snatched from the democrats four years ago. so, everything as they say in sporting terminology, to play for right now, in this election. david, timing wise, if georgia and arizona declare in the next few hours, could we then get a result? we could. because it is actually crucial for donald trump to win the state of georgia, and without it, it is very difficult to see a path to those 270 crucial electoral college votes a candidate needs to win this election, samantha. and it is pretty close. the waiters it may be some before we do get anything as definitive as that, but everybody wants to know who has won this election, not least of course the two candidates themselves. everybody wants to know. the world is waiting with baited

breath. let's get some of the day's other news. a tropical storm has brought torrential rain to the central american state of honduras, damaging buildings and triggering landslides. officials say roads and bridges have been swept away. storm eta was a category 4 hurricane when it made landfall in neighbouring nicaragua and weather forecasters have warned it could still cause life—threatening flash floods. prosecutors in brazil say there's enough evidence to charge the eldest son of president jair bolsonaro with corruption. flavio bolsonaro, who is a senator, has been accused of diverting money from the state government in rio de janeiro when he was a local representative. flavio bolsonaro denies wrongdoing. turning to the uk, where a new four—week lockdown has begun in england, with people told to stay at home and non—essential shops, pubs and gyms ordered to close. there are strict new rules on mixing with other households too, and the police are warning there will be tough action against anyone who breaks the rules.

anna 0'neill reports. it lights out the black pool, no more visitors to the famous eliminations for now. this is a town was already under england's highest year of restrictions, but now the plug has been pulled on virtually all entertainment. 0ver has been pulled on virtually all entertainment. over in hole last night, people made the most of their last evening of freedom —— in hull. most of their last evening of freedom -- in hull. this might be the last time until christmas. we just had our anniversary. and there was also anniversary. and there was also a celebratory atmosphere in london's soho. it kinda feels like new year's eve, it's got that kind of new year's eve, christmas eve atmosphere in the area. it's a bit sad, you know, it's a bit hard because it's like, how are you meant to celebrate, my birthday got cancelled... we don't know, you know what i mean? these could

be seen, surrounded by crowds as they encourage people to go home and stay indoors for their own safety. the chair of the national police chiefs' council warned there would be stiff fines for those reaching the new coronavirus regulations coming into effect today. our officers and others will be out there, and if people are not abiding by the rules, then we will explain and encourage, but if we have two, we will invoice. what are the new regulations? pubs and restau ra nts regulations? pubs and restaurants are closed but take a ways can stay open. nonessential shops and entertainment venues are also closed. people cant mix with other households in homes of gardens, but meeting one person from another household in a public space is allowed. and you should stay at home, unless you're going to work, education, essentialshopping, exercise, or medical reasons. the latest uk figures recorded a further a92 coronavirus deaths yesterday, the higher ——

highest figure since may and 177 confirmed cases. it hoped these new measures, which will stay in place for at least four weeks, will help bring the deaths, cases and pressure on the nhs down. anna 0'neill, bbc news. do stay with us on bbc news. still to come: as the contested counts and accusations of fraud continue, we look at what might be learned from the infamous florida vote and those hanging chads two decades ago. 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. at polling booths throughout the country, they voted 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 total recount in wisconsin. let's have more on the us presidential election. vikram amar is the dean of the university of illinois college of law. he is an expert in american election law. hejoins me now. welcome to you, thank you very much for being with us. let's talk about these legal challenges a little bit more. what is the legal basis for president trump launching these? well, each one has a different basis. in michigan, apparently, the president believes that his observers have not being adequately allowed to be in the rooms whether voting is counted. in georgia, it is not yet clear what his basis for the claim is, and in the pennsylvania case, he is arguing that the pennsylvania supreme court, in the united states we have federal courts and state courts, he is arguing the state supreme court in pennsylvania

improperly extended time within which ballots could be received, and that was kind of flouting the will of the pennsylvania legislature, which under the constitution, he argues, should have primacy. this is an echo of one aspect, a lesser—known aspect of the bush versus gore case from 20 yea rs bush versus gore case from 20 years ago, i don't think it is a strong theory, but he is resurrecting it in the supreme court right now. and what is the process? you can call for recount, but what has to happen for that to proceed? that's distinguished between recounts and legal challenges. —— let's distinguish. in wisconsin, he seeks a recount and said he will also seek a recount in georgia as well if he loses that. right now he is still winning by 35,000 votes in georgia. so the recount threshold in each state varies. in some states, if the election

is within1%, then the losing candidate can seek a recount, and in other states if it is 0.5%, they can ask for a recall asa 0.5%, they can ask for a recall as a matter of right. none of those recounts, excuse me, will again instill the final vote tally certified, it will be in days or weeks away. in wisconsin, we probably won't have a final certification into the end of next week. then the president will decide whether he wants to follow through on his threat to seek a recount. it is an extremely complicated process. it is. let me see ifi can typify one aspect of it. if joe biden wins pennsylvania —— simplify, wins by 100,000 votes, which is what some experts are predicting he would win it by, then none of this litigation or recounts really matter. because pennsylvania is

such a big prize. even if biden loses pennsylvania, it is unlikely a recount in wisconsin, which the president threatens, would change much. right nowjoe biden leads by 20,000 votes, and the former governor of his constant, scott walker, a member of the president was my own party treated today or yesterday that, a recount is not likely to become more than a few hundred votes anyway. i don't think recounts or litigation is likely to be successful in changing the outcome of the election. really, president trump's best hope is he holds on in georgia, he holds on in pennsylvania and somehow undoes the result, it somehow comes back and he wins arizona.|j like to be decided. vikram amar, thank you very much for your analysis and expertise. 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 — and we probably won't know until friday. 0ur correspondent clive myrie explains. there is an irony in the middle of all this, because in some of those battleground states, where there is huge controversy over the counting of mail in ballots a nd over the counting of mail in ballots and absentee ballots, as here in philadelphia and pennsylvania, it is 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 too, 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—19. republicans are comfortable voting in person while more 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. meet debbie smith, who 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. let's now get all the latest sport from the bbc sports centre. hello, i'm jane dougall with your thursday sports briefing. there were eight games played in the european champions league on wednesday night. you can find all the results on the bbc sport website. the winners included barcelona, who beat dynamo kyiv to maintain their 100% record in the group phase. lionel messi and gerard pique scored barca's goals in a 2—1victory. they join bayern munich, liverpool and manchester city in making it three wins out of three. but manchester united's perfect start to the competition

is over after they suffered a shock defeat in turkey. united were beaten 2—1 by istanbul basa ksehir. anthony martial scored the consolation goal for united who lost at home to arsenal in the premier league on sunday, leaving manager 0le gunnar solskjaer to field questions about his future at the club. i declined to comment on such a thing. of course it's early on. and opinions are out there all the time. you've got to stay strong. i'm employed by the clu b to strong. i'm employed by the club to do a job and i do that to the best of my ability with our staff. tennis now, and rafael nadal reached another landmark on wednesday, claiming the 1000th victory of his career on the atp tour. it came in the second round of the paris masters where nadal, who's the top seed, beat feliciano lopez. however, he had to come from a set down to see off his fellow spaniard. nadal, who's never won the tournament, took the deciding set 6—a,

and he'll face australia's jordan thompson in the last 16. i decline to comment on such a thing. —— nadal‘s win made him only the fourth man to reach the landmark of 1,000 wins afterjimmy connors, roger federer, and ivan lendl. he was later presented with a glass trophy with gold lettering, to mark the occasion. golf, and sweden's caroline hedwall takes a two—shot lead into the second round of the dubai moonlight classic. she carded a 7—under par round of 65 on wednesday, which included this hole—in—one at the par three 17th. hedwall is bidding to become the first swede to win the title since annika sorenstam 13 years ago. denmark's emily kristine pedersen, who leads the european tour's race to the costa del sol, will be hoping for a change of fortune. she'll start the day in last place on 10—over par, 17 shots off the lead. the day—night tournament is played over 5a holes, with no cut.

slovenian cyclist primoz roglic will again be wearing the leader's red jersey in thursday's 15th stage of the vuelta a espana. he finished safely in the pack on wednesday's stage in galicia to maintain his overall lead. roglic is 39 seconds ahead of richard carapaz with four stages to go. belgium's tim wellens of lotto—soudal won stage 1a. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me, jane dougall, and the rest of the sport team, that's your thursday sport briefing. 0ur our thanks there to the sport team. 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 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. im so sorry to interrupt, florida goes for al gore. there is a lot of uncertainty and confusion about who won florida. the network has called this thing, but the people actually counting the votes are coming up with a different perspective, and so, we are darn 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 already phoned his rival to congratulate him, but his team told him to wait. cbs news has now, for

the second time tonight, pulled back florida. 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 chad, 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 swirl of litigation ended up at the doorstep of the supreme court. 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 this election, 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 of 20 years ago were no less bitter 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 full 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 than al gore 20 years ago, but when the supreme court ruled, that was it, its legitimacy was not questioned. this election continues to test america's faith in its institutions, by whatever means an eventual win is secured.

gabriel gatehouse reporting there. stay with us. i will have the business stories and the impact that the outcome of the impact that the outcome of the election will have on the business world. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @samanthatvnews. backin back ina back in a moment. 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. amar, thank you very much for your analysis and expertise.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. joe biden says he's on course to win the us presidency but the vote counting continues. i'm not here to declare that we've won, but i'm here to report that when the count is finished, we believe we will be the winners. the trump campaign launches legal action to try to stop the counting in michigan, pennsylvania and georgia, and wants a recount in wisconsin. wall street surges as biden edges towards victory but congress looks set to remain split. we'll take a look at why

business like that scenario. hello, and a very warm welcome. let's get some business reaction to events in the usa now, as the counting continues in earnest, with joe biden's position looking stronger by the hour. financial markets have been digesting the possibility of a biden presidency, but a congress that remains divided, with democrats keeping control of the house of representatives and republicans holding on to the senate. us markets surged — the s&p 500 seeing its best day since earlyjune and the tech—dominated nasdaq jumping the most since april. well, as samira hussain in new york explains, part of that is relief that the democrats may not have the leeway in congress to slap new regulations on business. so we think the fact we're seeing these big moves markets

today into positive territory, a part of it has to do with that markets had sort of prized in this kind of uncertainty. —— priced. there was always this belief we were going to have this uncertain outcome and we might not know a clear winner. a lot of that was already baked in the mix leading up to the election. what is interesting to look at is the sectors that have seen really big gains. two in fact, one is the tech sector, that's awesome really big moves throughout the day, and part of what analysts are saying is because we are not seeing that blue wave that many we re seeing that blue wave that many were expecting in congress, it means that we are not probably going to see sort of congress come down really hard on the tech sector. so that gave them a boost. and then if you look at healthcare, again, because we didn't see that big blue wave, the health healthcare sector believes they are quite safe when it comes to any idea

of universal healthcare. stephen goggin is a lecturer in the department of political science at san diego state university. thank you for being with us. we are ina thank you for being with us. we are in a state of flux. no decision yet. how long do you think you will be before a final result? well, ballots will continue to be counted for the next days and weeks, but i think it is likely in the next 12-2a think it is likely in the next 12 — 2a hours there will be an uncertainty for media outlets in the united states to have called a number of these uncertain states. i think we could have some certainty regarding arizona. and those legal challenges, will they be pursued? some have already been filed, in michigan, pennsylvania and georgia, and others are starting to take place. the trump campaign has

filed a number of issues, seeking vote counting to be stopped pretty much immediately in places where he is leading, he hasn't filed them in states where he is trailing and needs to make up the vote, but we are likely to see these filter through the courts in the next several days and we will see if any of these will be viewed as having merit and possibly going up having merit and possibly going up the chain of courts. what is your take on what we have seen so farand your take on what we have seen so far and the fact the country seems fairly evenly split as far as votes for each candidate goes. are you surprised by that stop a little bit. the polls we re stop a little bit. the polls were a bit of expectations in this election. it does look likejoe biden will get many millions more votes and get maybe 5% more of the popular vote but the electoral college will be quite close. if these remaining states do swing the same way, into joe remaining states do swing the same way, intojoe biden's camp, it is likely he will win with a sizeable win in the

electoral college was that i think it is surprising how many americans thus maximising americans, given projections from analysts. and we are seeing protests in maricopa county, arizona. let's have a look at them. it's not quite clear what is going on there, there is a police presence, there is a police presence, there are people protesting. tensions are high, aren't they stephen, about how this is going to fall. how worried people about any potential civil unrest, depending on what happens? there has been the worry for weeks about neville u nrest worry for weeks about neville unrest and we have seen a little bit of it in pockets. 0utside various places where votes are being counted in the us, others asking them to count the ballots, others asking them to stop the counting process. in terms of large—scale unrest, if counting goes away, there

could be —— either way, it could be —— either way, it could depend on the rhetoric from the president himself as well as republicans, whether they are willing to go along with his remarks, kind of calling into question the result of the election. what you think it will mean for policy going forward, whichever way it goes, with no side having a massive majority at the moment? it will be interesting to see, particularly in the senate. there will be a couple of special elections likely, for the seats in georgia, and it could be kept in republican territory. we will see how those elections go. if there is not a clear kind of all on the side of the democrats and the congress opposes it, we might see more piecemeal legislation over the next few years in other policies and much more compromised policies, if they can get anything done at all. thank you, stephen goggin,

joining us from san diego state university. dan kemp is chief investment officer at morningstar investment management here in london. what do you think would be the difference between a trump and biden presidency? i think the big multinational institutions, the un, wto, who, they really couldn't be more different. i think if biden wins we may see more 0bama— style policy, the us trying to embrace foreign partners and finding mutual goals to work together. but within that, one of the areas where the us under biden is likely to try to work with its allies to achieve these goals

is regarding the us rivalry with china, excuse me, and actually, in terms of the us — china dispute, it may not be that different between a trump administration or a biden administration. we don't think the us will back down on pressure under biden, itjust will look different. it won't be on trade tariffs, it will be more on investment restrictions, specific sanctions on individuals and an increasing focus on human rights. let's talk about the federal reserve and the meeting there in the us. there is pressure on interest rates at the moment. the fed was clear they saw their role as a stabilising force throughout this crisis, keeping rates close to zero beyond 2023. they have a certain mandate to act as that force, to ensure the us economy but also financial markets are stable throughout, definitely the weirdest and most worrying recession we have

seen most worrying recession we have seenin most worrying recession we have seen in modern times stop they will probably feel some additional pressure from this but they were getting used to that, i'm afraid. with that in mind, with the state of the economy, what you think will happen with regards to a stimulus package, do you think there will be one any soon or more stalemate? that will be decided by the senate after the races. it looks like biden will win, after nevada and arizona, orany win, after nevada and arizona, or any more of the east coasts. he will probably be wanting to ta ke he will probably be wanting to take a more active role in the recovery which will require legislation, but the senate is still in the balance and it looks like the odds are in the republicans' favour to looks like the odds are in the republica ns' favour to main control the senate, and that will complicate legislation enormously as fiscal conservatives there, who aren't really in a position to agree —— who are in a position to

agree among themselves, it is a worrying tone that we are likely to see more of this part acrimony and divergent views on what the government's role is in spending to prop up the economy. we probably won't see the stimulus bill democrats would hope for, and with gdp forecast, that is a bit more robust for 2021. caitlyn, just bringing in some pictures from arizona i was talking about a few moments ago. protesters outside the count there, which continues in earnest. this is in maricopa county. how much of an issue do think it is there is so little consensus in american politics? i think, again, we have gotten used to this a bit in recent years because we have seen the level of polarisation reached new highs. but then you add that into a volatile situation like the one we are seeing, the sharpest recession the us has

seen sharpest recession the us has seen since the 1930s, but what is sure to be a slow and gradual recovery process. unemployment around 8%, we will get final numbers on what happened in october tomorrow, but nothing looking particularly good in that regard. we will need quick, decisive action, which have avenue it is down, conservative or more expansionary, whichever way the government decides to span, we will need more certainty —— span. and perhaps we will see more that under biden than trump but it is a question of how much can be wrangled through congress. cailyn birch, thank you forward joining us for your analysis today. dan kemp is chief investment officer at morningstar investment management here in london. us stocks leapt despite all this uncertainty over who have actually won. what is your reaction? good morning. ithink

the key thing is try and not react to what is going on at the moment. if you cast your mind back to yesterday morning, which feels like years, really, we saw market is expected to open much lower because people we re open much lower because people were already thinking about the different results compared to the one dominating the narrative at the moment. investors can get whiplash if they are not careful, assume that the latest movement in price reflects something long—term, and that encourages them to take perceptive action, which we really shouldn't do, so, from our perspective, we are watching the situation carefully but reminding ourselves that investment is a long—term game. it is a marathon on, not a series of sprints, so what we're doing at the moment, what we are encouraging other people to do, is look at where the values of businesses are compared to

their long—term prospects and risks, rather than following every twist and turn of the election. investors seem to be betting the closer than expected result reduces the chance of big change for business. do you agree with that? well, i'm not a political a nalyst, that? well, i'm not a political analyst, you've had some great political analysis already this morning, so i will leave that up morning, so i will leave that up to them. but i think what we are seeing is regardless of what happens with fiscal support in the very short—term, and even the path of the virus, i think we can all agree that this is likely to be a shorter term headwind, and unlike other recessions we have had over the past years. 2008, this is likely to be temporary, and so it is an opportunity to pick up businesses that are trading cheaply, currently, which will give very good, long—term benefit. so, whatever happens

in the short term in us politics, remember that there is lots of opportunities out there where people are very concerned about the future but probably overly concerned and there are good opportunities for investors. 0k, there are good opportunities for investors. ok, so you are not a political analyst, we appreciate that, but you must have wargame what will happen in your business and advise depending on who wins? -- wargamed. it's not about which president is betterfor wargamed. it's not about which president is better for our business, fortunately, we have a global business and are looking at markets around the world, and we are focused on what is better for the end investor. what is better for the end investor is some stability. also, an opportunity to buy assets at reasonable valuations, and what we're seeing in the us at the moment is some very high prices in

certain parts the market, which is making it look unattractive. now, we would welcome a situation where some of those companies became cheaper, and better opportunities to buy now, that may be more likely the end of one political scenario than another, but really, rather than focusing on what that outcome is, that is going to dominate the short term much more, we are looking at the long—term, which will be driven by a very different factors. so, the recovery of the global economy and longer term demographic rates and the ability of businesses to make money around the world, not just the us. dan kemp, need to get your thoughts, thank you for being with us. —— great to get your thoughts. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: trouble in store — thousands of retail businesses fear for their survival as england goes back into lockdown. and now for some

news here in the uk. captain sir tom moore has launched a new campaign to get people walking to help support those who feel "lonely and frightened" during lockdown. the veteran raised more than £33 million for the nhs by walking 100 laps of his bedfordshire garden before his 100th birthday. the challenge encourages people to log their walking on social media using the hashtag "walk with tom" over the next week. it is going to be difficult and some people are going to find its mentally a great stress. they are going to be not only lonely, i think they are also going to feel lost. they are there on their own with not a soul to help them, but have to go on and go on and go on. so that's what i'd say to people. remember, you have to go on, but it will get better in the

end. captain sir tom moore. for more on that story, breakfast will be coming up at six o'clock with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. this is bbc world 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 total recount in wisconsin. from today, all non—essential shops in england are being forced to close, as the country goes back into lockdown for a month. according to the british retail consortium, the previous lockdown cost non—essential shops £1.6 billion a week in lost sales. now that we are entering the all—importa nt christmas shopping period, these losses are certain to be much bigger. for independent retailers, the move could not come at a worse time. andrew goodacre is ceo of the british independent retailers association. he's in birmingham in central england. how damaging will this be for the independent sector? welcome to you. once very much for being with us. a

devastating time for so many businesses. how damaging is this four—week lockdown going to be for them? good morning. it is, the very worst time. we know that 2a% of independent retailers didn't open after the last lockdown, those that did, and have struggled through to now, would have hope for the november and december period to build up to christmas to really rescue what has been a very poor year for them rescue what has been a very poor yearfor them and rescue what has been a very poor year for them and for non—essential businesses that has now been taken away. what help is being offered, what can they do to mitigate their losses ? they do to mitigate their losses? well, the government has launched schemes, they have reinstated the furlough scheme, which will be very welcome. i think only 20% of our members qualified for the self—employed support scheme because of the rules that disqualify them. we would have liked to have seen that improved so they could benefit from that. grants are

available, up to £3000 from the local authority, we need that bankier members as soon as possible. most businesses don't fail because of a lack of profit, they fail because of a lack of cash and cash flow. the gra nts lack of cash and cash flow. the grants are needed to help see them through the next four weeks. and the government backed loans, the application dates for those have been extended to the end of january next year and, extended to the end of january next yearand, again, extended to the end of january next year and, again, not ideal for businesses, but they are available and that may be an option to introduce much—needed cash into the business. at the same time, while trying to keep the business afloat, these retailers have got to focus on what happens on the third of december when they hopefully reopen, because that will be a key, crucial sales period to try to move stock, but if it doesn't move in december it will be of no use to them whatsoever. what about lessons that have been learned from the earlier lockdown this year, and many of the smaller businesses tried to move online? they

have. we know from our own research that three waters of independent retailers will have a website, only a quarter of them are trading websites where customers can do transactions. but we saw men and businesses really readjust their model to click and collect and deliveries. both of which are available to a closed store in this current lockdown. but at the end of the day it takes time to establish an online presence. the likes of amazon have been doing it for years. the large stores have huge budgets to spend on that. so an independent retailer finds it really ha rd independent retailer finds it really hard and we are urging our members to really, the one advantage they have is to connect with the local community, really engage and make sure that their customers know what they have available and they have got all the christmas presents they need if they can wait until december to buy them. that is one up side to what has been going on with the pandemic. people are

shopping more locally, they are not going out to big shopping centres. i guess the hope is that when the lockdown ends in four weeks people will continue to surgery to the local areas to surgery to the local areas to support those small businesses. absolutely. these businesses. absolutely. these businesses are very much part of the communities and need their communities for them. they are there to service the communities when given a chance to do so. 0ur message to shoppers, and we saw the rush to the shops yesterday and the accused, our to the shops yesterday and the accused , our message to the shops yesterday and the accused, our message to shoppers is don't do all your christmas shopping yet. there will be lots of fantastic quality product in your local independent retailer once they are open again on the third of december. it's really important that the shoppers do not panic and really think about the local business to make a difference. 0k, andrew goodacre, thanksgiving with us. thank you. —— thank you for being with us. let's return to the us election and the state of arizona.

donald trump won there four years ago, but this time joe biden is leading, and that lead is holding as the remaining votes are counted. 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. well, that count in arizona still very much continuing. it is on still very much continuing. it isona still very much continuing. it is on a knife edge. these pictures are from protesters gathering outside the counting station. it looks peaceful but they are there and they are charging and there is a police presence. there have certainly been fears of civil unrest with lots of shops boarded up —— chanting. there is fear there could be reaction to whatever the result is. while this looks peaceful at the moment, but this is the scene at maricopa county. we will keep an eye on that for you and bring that you shortly. plenty more on our website and you can keep up with me on twitter. we will have all the results as they come in live. goodbye for now.

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.

good morning, and welcome to breakfast with naga munchetty and charlie stayt. 0ur headlines today: joe biden edges closer to the white house, and says he's got the votes to win the us election. i'm the us election. not here to declare that we have one. i'm not here to declare that we have one. but i am here to report that when the count is finished, we believe that we will be the winners. with the result on a knife edge, president trump starts legal action in key states, calling for the counting to be stopped. this there's a warning of stiff fines for rule breakers, as a four—week lockdown comes into force in england. a bruising night for manchester united in the champions league. poor defending costs them, as they lose 2—1 in istanbul,

to increase the pressure