hello, this is bbc news with kasia madera. the headlines. as vounting continues in key states —joe biden is forging ahead as voting continues in key states — joe biden is forging ahead in the race for the white house — but either candidate could still win. in the last few minutes — the state of georgia has said they may not finalise counting their votes for more than a week. we anticipate having the talent done when the legal deadline of certification is, what's going to be ten days after the election and that is when we are done because still ballots coming and balance to be verified. the trump campaign launches multiple lawsuits — they want a recount in wisconsin —

and donald trump wants late arriving votes to be thrown out. the uk government will continue paying 80% of workers‘ wages till the end of march — as the chancellor extends the furlough scheme. a new four—week lockdown begins in england — with police saying they won't tolerate people breaking the rules. we thought we'd be bringing you the us presidential election result today — but all we can say is that joe biden, the democratic challenger, is edging ever closer to the white house. the bbc, in line with several other news organisations, is projecting that the democrats have won in wisconsin. that means, joe biden is currently projected to have 253 electoral college votes, and donald trump, 214. the magic number is 270 to win the white house. and this is how the map looks now after the projected wisconsin win forjoe biden. we're still waiting for these battleground states —

pennsylvania, georgia, arizona and nevada. although it's the electoral college votes that matter — in the popular vote, joe biden has 50%, donald trump 47%. and remember all the votes aren't counted. joe biden has received over seventy million votes, more than any other presidential candidate in history. and there's no sign of president donald trump conceding. quite the opposite — he's launched a set of legal challenges. here's our north america editorjon sopel on the final stages of a presidential race like no other. chanting: four more years! as america waits, so impatience grows, and protests are cropping up in all the states where counting is still going on. they're mainly trump supporters, but what they're chanting depends where you are. stop the count! this is detroit, michigan, where donald trump had a narrowing lead, and his fans are shouting, "stop the count!"

chanting: stop the count! but go west to arizona — where donald trump is trailing — and what are they chanting? "count those votes!" we'd just like to watch you count the ballots! last night, the president's lawyer, rudy giuliani, accused democrats of trying to steal the election, although, notably, offered no evidence for that. this is a concerted effort of the crooks that run the democratic party, and you know these big—city machines are crooked. you know that. 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, 50 years, 100 years of one—party rule leads to corruption. as things stand, we're waiting for counting to finish in arizona, nevada — wherejoe biden holds narrow leads — and in pennsylvania in the northeast and georgia in the south — where the president is just about to head. in georgia a short time ago, we had this update on the counting process. fast is great, and we appreciate

fast, we more appreciate accuracy. accuracy is going to be the bedrock upon which people will believe the outcome of this election, be it on the winning side or the losing side. donald trump hasn't spoken publicly since he made this statement on election night, but his campaign have launched multiple lawsuits since then, demanding a recount in wisconsin, calling for counting to be stopped in other states, alleging fraud in nevada. and he's just tweeted this... the democrats are watching all of this wearily and have an army of lawyers ready to go into battle if that's what this election comes down to. here, the people rule. power can't be taken or asserted. it flows from the people, and it's their will that determines

who will be the president of the united states and their will alone. neither side is giving an inch, neither side is giving up. there's defiance from the trump camp, determination from biden. who's going to prevail? watch this space. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. in a moment, we will speak to our correspondent at the white house, gary 0'donighue but first to michelle fluery in philadelphia. let's speak to michelle fleury, who's in philadelphia. all eyes are on pennsylvania and eve ryo ne all eyes are on pennsylvania and everyone wants to know where those 20 electoral votes will go to. that is right, because of they go tojoe biden, that could be the keys to the white house. if you go to donald trump, that could give his campaign a boost in terms of winning another four years. as things currently

stand, donald trump's lead here in the keystone state has narrowed. bridging from cbs that it has narrowed to 111 plus thousand. that isi.7% of narrowed to 111 plus thousand. that is 1.7% of the estimated vote counted so far, but there are still mail—in ballots to be counted and that it's been the subject of drama in the building right behind me of my shoulder earlier today and republicans getting to court and saying they want to get court observers encounter observers much closer to those were doing the counting of the ballots and is close to six feet in the metre on the day, we learned that philadelphia board of elections had filed an appeal and so of elections had filed an appeal and so the drama, the legal dramas continuing in the counting goes on in the building behind me. and any reporting that the lawsuit was rejected, michelle? the specific lawsuit that i'm referring to like i

said, thejudge ruled in favour of the trump campaign and then it was appealed, the supreme court did not respond to our questions about the timeline, but considering it as things currently stand, but there still vote counting i do not know how it was resolved. we have a legal issue, whether the observers are allowed in or not, that is on the legal fights and there are others involving balance where there are some suggestions that there have been stakes in one specific county, they reached out to give them an opportunity before election day to come and correct them and i was in of the lawsuit on going but perhaps the big one that people are watching involves a supreme courtjustice today, donald trump saying that the trump campaign wanted tojoin today, donald trump saying that the trump campaign wanted to join that lawsuit which have been brought by local republicans than the state and it involves the deadline for which ballots, postal ballots could be received and counted. many thanks for clarifying all of that. a lot to

discuss there in philadelphia, pennsylvania. let's cross over to washington let's speak to our washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue who is at the white house. things are looking better forjoe biden as time goes by, we have now added this column which takes into 2053 electoral votes and in the two states that are counting where he is in the lead, nevada and arizona, those electoral votes were taken to the magic 270. at the beginning though, the difficult different donald trump is that in the states oi’ donald trump is that in the states or he is leading, pennsylvania where michelle was talking to you from, north carolina and georgia, all of those three do not get him to 270. if you had a laskin, get them to 268. he doesn't eat either to cause an upset in nevada, perhaps and is

close there. 0r, an upset in nevada, perhaps and is close there. or, he needs to turn things around and arizona, or he needs to get one of these legal challenges or recounts to work. so, there are some options for him, but it isa there are some options for him, but it is a question of everything going right for him rather than forjoe biden where hejust right for him rather than forjoe biden where he just needs to stay ahead in these two states and he's got the numbers. and when it is so down to the wire, with this counting, they want to get it right and so, when can we next expect the states to call. i think that's difficult. georgia, we thought was going to be close, but they're not talking about being the official timeline, a lot of the states of sort of ratification processes that can bea sort of ratification processes that can be a week or two after the election where that is the moment they give you their official figure in some states like pennsylvania where michelle was, they are legally allowed to accept postal votes that

are dated before election day up until three days afterwards. north carolina can accept such arriving up to 12 days after and so, you can see the potential confusion and what you will see in the coming couple of daysis will see in the coming couple of days is the networks here calling the selection at some point but i don't think that necessarily means you will hear a concession speech from the resident of the white house. i would from the resident of the white house. iwould be from the resident of the white house. i would be very surprised if you do and it won't be that kind of normal process that will expect american politics where the smooth transition of power takes place. we are talking hypothetically ofjoe biden if he were to win, i do not think you're going to see that smooth process where one candidate concedes and things just carry on. this is anything but the normal election rates. thank you so much for bringing us up to date in the white house. thank you very much. as

always, will be catching with our correspondence across the us. in georgia, president trump has a lead of nearly i3—thousand overjoe biden. in the past few minutes — we've had another update from the voting system implementation manager for the state, gabriel sterling. he said just over 10,000 votes still had to be counted. we anticipate having the count done when the legal deadline for certification is when to be ten days after the election and that is and we are done because there ballots that are still coming in and ballots to be cured and others to be verified. we cannot know how long the process will take but we hope to have clarity as soon as possible, however we have many important elections being so close and done, it is relative term. we are trying to get all the legal votes counted accurately so we can get the right results and make sure that everyone's vote is reflected

properly. an update from georgia and the word is patience with all of this. it is certainly being one of the most divisive us elections anyone can remember and the argument how has that and the arguments over the results affected the public mood? the bbc, in line with several other news organisations, is now projecting thatjoe biden is the winner in wisconsin, but where the trump campaign has demanded a recount. 0ur correspondent aleem maqbool has been speaking to people there. even in quaint suburban america right now, in these fractious times, it's them and us. but there are those trying to come together. when tim had his biden sign stolen, his trump—supporting neighbor, josh, surprised him with a replacement. i knowjosh is a member of the republican party, and so, you know, for him to come and do something like that was pretty outstanding. so, in the course of our conversation, i realised thatjosh is, you know, regular person first

and a republican second. but the situation nationally is causing tension. i think people's wicks are just a little bit shorter than they used to be. i think people are afraid. they're afraid of what the economy looks like, they're afraid of the unknown, and so that fear becomes anger. even outside the white house on election night, we saw radical elements on the left make an appearance. in recent months, far right militia have also made their presence felt in many parts of the country. antifascist activist vaughn mays has been arrested several times for alleged violence, but now predicts trouble from the other side. i live in a state where we saw armed protesters, trump supporters, storm the capital because they did not

want to follow mask mandates, and they did not want their businesses to shut down. they wanted to be able get, in theirwords, haircuts. and so if they would go to those heights and those levels for mask mandates, it's definitely concerning what they would do if their president is not reelected, especially when he's been putting it out there that if he doesn't win, it's rigged, or it's some sort of conspiracy against him, and that they should fight back. there's little doubt that the angry rhetoric and political discourse at the top has led to more animosity among some elements at least on the ground. the fear is, because this has already been a contentious election and promises to be into the days and weeks to come, that will only lead to greater divisions in american society. aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin. let's talk now to republican strategist lisa james and robin swanson,

democratic strategist and former spokesperson for the california democratic party. thank you so much forjoining us and we are sure this is a busy time. talking about the angry rhetoric and how contentious it is. lisa, if i could start with you. the lawsuits, the calls for stopping voting or continuing with counts, how damaging do you think this is for the whole process and how the us is seen?|j think process and how the us is seen?” think there's a confidence in the election system, the electoral system and i think the lawsuits are to ensure that every legal vote is counted and those who voted legally should absolutely be counted and those that are not voted legally, we need to be concerned about. that seems fair enough, doesn't it? of course, i think everyone wants the votes counted and i think it is

important that votes continue to be counted, especially because our military folks were overseas, those are the folks that are most likely to be voting by mail them for their ballots to be coming in, even if there postmarked by the date. every vote should be counted in the majority of the vote by mail ballots that are coming into being counted are forjoe that are coming into being counted are for joe biden that are coming into being counted are forjoe biden and it really is a matter of time before joe biden is declared the winner of this us presidential election in the real question is, how peaceful will the transition of power be. lisa, because this is been such a huge issue given that we are in a pandemic with coronavirus, the mellon system the voting system has been so big when it comes to this particular election in the united states, what kind of ballots would you not accept their shallow i

—— except? -- except? if they're accepted by the deadline and does votes are being properly counted, i think it is fair that both sides would want every vote properly counted and i think that i would disagree. i think there is a definite path to victory for donald trump and i think you need to look only to arizona, many, i think there was a premature call in arizona for vice president biden, and those numbers and the math, i think this is far from over. a premature call, what do you reckon? to the contrary, i think states like georgia are in play forjoe biden andl georgia are in play forjoe biden and i do think pennsylvania with

their20 and i do think pennsylvania with their 20 electoral votes is where their 20 electoral votes is where the big game is right now and that is where all eyes are and if donald trump, loses the election. if that does happen, for the president concede? will he fight this? we can see this getting extremely litigious? i think all legal measures from both camps would be no matter who is successful, i think the other side wants to make sure that the results are accurate. and i would expect that to be so. but, i will expect the peaceful transfer of power or continuation of power, once those legal battles of decided. are you happy with how this process is gone through? does this make the united states look good in the eyes of the rest of the world? welcome i thinkjoe biden

of the rest of the world? welcome i think joe biden is of the rest of the world? welcome i thinkjoe biden is trying to restore our standing thinkjoe biden is trying to restore ourstanding in the thinkjoe biden is trying to restore our standing in the world and in the midst of the pandemic, you see some folks working really hard, these registrars of voters in folks that are staying up in the night and getting the vote machines done, that is so important and that such patriotic work that i absolutely am proud of where we are in the fact that it proud of where we are in the fact thatitis proud of where we are in the fact that it is only two days later in the midst of a pandemic. this is a global pandemic were all of the rules have changed for vote by mail is being used like it never has been before i think people are stepping up before i think people are stepping up andl before i think people are stepping up and i think the only person that is going to unify this country and be the president of all the united states and not just the blue be the president of all the united states and notjust the blue states is going to be joe biden. states and notjust the blue states is going to be joe biden. we do not know yet and looks like you'll be quite some time before we do know, it president trump does lose, what does this mean for the republicans? isa time does this mean for the republicans? is a time for the party to look at

itself and rebrand itself? can it ever get over that? i think this is a party of you're making progress and embracing technology and change. we know that for everyone to be successful and left everyone up, the economy has to grow and donald trump is the person to do that. i think the numbers are showing pulling and the numbers are showing pulling and the stats that averaged of minority communities has grown. the voting members and those of us grown. and i think though that the republican message of prosperity and economic opportunity for everyone is one that will resonate at think the republicans are going to be reaching out to every corner, every large city, small town, every race, every religion and reaching out to show them with the republican party stands for and what he can do for all americans. lease at some point. donald trump certainly disrupted the

us political system, he is a disruptor as we all know, but what is there but the democrats that they cannot find someone who wasn't a white man in his 70s to be a candidate? i like to look at the vice president, harris. a multinational ethnic woman and she has been a juggernaut from california, a senator from california, a senator from california, so, i do think we bring and show the diversity of the united states with the ticket. thank you very much for spending your time with us in this busy time, thank you so much for being so frank with us here on bbc news and of course, we are much more on our way, we have a life page there comes a due check that off the very latest, it is all

that off the very latest, it is all that with analysis and regular updated count of the electoral votes, college votes so far, as you can see enjoy watching bbc news. the chancellor rishi sunak has announced that the furlough scheme — which has supported millions of workers — will now run through to the end of march next year. mr sunak has had to extend the scheme yet again, prompting labour to accuse him of playing catch—up, "always a step behind" as the shadow chancellor put it. so, how does the scheme work? it will apply to the whole of the uk for the next five months. the government will pay 80% of wages for hours not worked for employees affected by the pandemic. for those who are self employed, support has been extended to a similar level — increasing to 80% of average profits until january. here's our deputy political editor vicki young on why this is an extension

the government had hoped to avoid. they tried to open up the economy. but once again, the shutters have come down across england. and now, emergency bailouts have become long term support. the government, helping to pay the wages of millions of people for a whole year. but today, the prime minister insisted there was light at the end of the tunnel. across the whole of the united kingdom, people are engaged in a huge, joint efforts to put the coronavirus back in its box. i know that many of you are anxious, weary, and quite frankly fed up with the very mention of this virus. but i want to assure you, this is not a repeat of the spring. of the chancellor was lending a hand at a housing development. he has been saying it is time to wind down the furlough scheme, not build it up again. but rishi sunak has gone from eat out to help 0ut, to eating his words. political opponents have chosen to attack the government for trying to keep the economy functioning,

and to make sure the support we provide encourages people to keep working. but to anyone in the real world, that is just the thing you have to do when the circumstances change. there have been several versions of the chancellor's support plan in recent weeks. labour said the furlough scheme should have been extended sooner, and that the delay had cost jobs and livelihoods. chancellor can change his mind at the last minute, mr speaker, but businesses can't. we need a chancellor who is in front of the problem is that we face, not one that is always a step behind. and the first minister of scotland said uncertainty over wage support had had dire consequences. unfortunately, because many businesses and workers expected the furlough, the existing furlough scheme to end at the end of october, and i know people, we all know people in the circumstance, they made people redundant and i think that is deeply regrettable. the seats are empty at this

hair salon in cardiff. wales is in the middle of a two—week lockdown, so owner helen has put her staff back on furlough. the news today has been, in one way, a big relief, knowing that we will have the backing going forward, which is a huge help. but what does that mean, extending it until march? does it mean we are in for more lockdown? are we going to be on this total roller—coaster? you criticise political opponents who called for the furlough scheme to be extended, and now you have done it. what do you say to those who have lost theirjobs because you didn't provide that certainty earlier? we needed to look at alternative systems of support to encourage the economy to keep moving and get people back into employment. that was why the job support system, thejss, was developed, and a different package of measures. but now, as we face this autumn surge, it is right to go to furlough and that is what we are doing. the chancellor has spent hundreds of billions of pounds propping up

the economy during this pandemic. but, after being accused of ignoring the needs of workers in northern english cities, wales and scotland, he has now come up with even more, another huge financial commitment, stretching into next year. that is reassuring for many, but others worry about the longer term implications for the economy. the brief optimism of the summer has faded quickly. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. earlier lindsay cook — is who is personal finance expert and the financial times' money mentor columnist — explained who the scheme would help it is helping an awful lot of employees who, many already talking about redundancy because the scheme finish that saturday and many employers have had to give notice to some discussions and consultations

and they are hoping there will be rescued and a lot of employers are talking to their accountants and other experts in small business to find out what the details are in people have to pay pension contributions and employer's national contributions and holiday entitlement will accrue during this extra furlough period. the foreign secretary dominic raab is self—isolating after coming into contact with someonewho later tested positive for covid—i9 a foreign office spokesman said mr raab has been informed today that an individual with whom he has been in recent close contact has tested positive for coronavirus. he will continue his work remotely. travellers arriving in the uk from germany and sweden will have to self—isolate for two weeks from saturday — after both countries were removed from safe travel list. restrictions in england and wales prohibit people from going abroad on holiday. 0verseas travel is only allowed for limited reasons

including work and education. sainsbury‘s says it will to cut around 3—and—a—half thousand jobs — mostly at retailer argos — as part of cost cutting measures. sainsbury‘s, which bought argos in 2016, will close 420 argos standalone stores over next three years — although it plans to open 150 outlets in its supermarkets. it's boss simon roberts said sainsbury‘s was responding to changing consumer habits and the growth of online shopping. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes hello there. on thursday, we had some really high temperatures for the time of year across the northeast of the uk. in durham, we had temperatures reach 18 celsius but to the northwest of scotland, about 15 or 16 but to the northwest of scotland, about 15 or16 in but to the northwest of scotland, about 15 or 16 in the sunshine here. 0vernight tonight, fog patches to come again across england and wales

and wales and perhaps the merc is to the weather across the midlands, east anglia and other areas of england as well. some patches of frost in the countryside too, but further north in scotland, for north it stays pretty cloudy overnight at those temperatures do not fall quite so farand those temperatures do not fall quite so far and goes about eight in belfast and glasgow. the mist and fog patch is starting of the day in england to attend the the low cloud that could take a while before thins and breaks. but eventually, we'll get some sunshine and probably the best ascension coming through us into the afternoon. as the south coast, it stays quite cloudy and for many of us, temperatures about ten to 15 degrees. that is your weather.

this is bbc news. minute by minute, vote by vote, we are creeping to result in the us election. there are just a handful of counties in full states that will tip the balance for one of these two men. in pennsylvania, georgia, and nevada, election officials are patiently counting those mailed in ballots. 0utside, they are not so calm. there is tension in the air. donald trump wants to stop the count and his supporters have heard the call. also in the programme, i will show you the route that thejoe biden has opened up the white house and whether leaves donald trump, plus we will be a georgia arizona life. and

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