this is bbc news with me, shaun ley. our top stories... joe biden says his win in the american election as a convincing victory for "the people" — and promises to unite and heal the country. for all those of you who voted for president trump. i understand the disappointment tonight. we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. they are not our enemies, they're americans. the victory for mr biden and his running mate, kamala harris, who will make history by becoming the first female vice president — sparked nationwide celebrations among democrat supporters. president donald trump has

not conceded defeat— the white house said he would accept the results of a fair election. we'll be live in washington shortly — we'll bring you the very latest developments. manchester united footballer, marcus rashford, describes a government u—turn over free school meals in england as a "ma you know, on the phone he kept thanking me. but then in the back of my mind i'm like, it's the families that deserve the u—turn. the uk government is urging people to mark remembrance sunday at home this year, by taking part in the two minute silence, watching events on television and sharing personal stories over social media. hello and welcome to bbc news. we'll be bringing you the latest news and analysis from here,

and across the globe. in his first speech as us president—elect, joe biden has appealed for an end to what he called a grim era of demonisation in american politics. addressing crowds of flag—waving supporters at an outdoor event near his home in delaware, mr biden said it was time to heal and that his administration would marshal the forces of decency, fairness, science and hope. the president—elect said getting the coronavirus pandemic under control was his top priority. our correspondent, lebo diseko, reports from washington. the president—elect of the united states of america, joe biden!

cheering. a moment that has been 30 years in the making. joe biden makes his victory address, repeating his campaign promise to unite a divided country. for all those of you who voted for president trump, i understand the disappointment tonight. i've lost a couple of times myself. but now, let's give each other a chance. cheering. it's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as ourenemies. they are not our enemies, they are americans. he and his choice for vice president are making history. kamala harris will be the first female, black, and first south asian ever, in this role. she paid tribute to her mother, who came to the us from india at the age of 19. i am thinking about her. and about the generations of women, black women... cheering

..asian, white, latina, native american women, who throughout our nation's history have paved the way for this moment tonight. tackling covid—19 will be their first order of business. on monday, joe biden will name a task force of scientists and medical experts. in the nation's capital, washington, dc — jubilation. we're here to support biden and celebrate his win tonight. and the first black, female vice president in office! we're here because america has been liberated from the hatred and, just, casual racism that we've been experiencing for the past four years. somebody said we won a big battle today, the war is not over, but we have really accomplished something big today as a people. there have been people

here all afternoon celebrating joe biden‘s win, and they are likely to continue right through the night. and while the crowd may have gone down somewhat, the excitement certainly hasn't. and with the white house just metres behind us, it's hard not to wonder what its occupants must be thinking. this was donald trump as projections came through thatjoe biden, not he, had won. on social media, he remains defiant and is pursuing various legal challenges. but his refusal to concede didn't dim this moment. it was a historic night, offering a new chapter for america. lebo diseko, bbc news, washington. let's go over to washington and get the latest from lebo now. it the latest from lebo now. is the middle of the nigi you, it is the middle of the night with you, the lights are down and still burning in the white house, but not with donald trump having been seen to give any indication of when or

indeed if he will make some kind of formal concession speech? is there any explanation for that from the trump camp? they say this as an election still in process. not only are their votes still to be counted, they have various sets of legal action they put forward in states right across the country. so that is why they are reluctant to concede, oi’ why they are reluctant to concede, or not conceding at the moment. i have been checking donald trump's twitter feed to see if he will say anything further. he wasn't seen yesterday after being on the golf course at all. nothing in the last ten hours. we have heard from his lawyer. she says they will be presenting further legal cases on monday. it is difficult to see what shifts these legal cases could make. when you look at the number of states and the number of votes and what usually happens with these cases, how much they could shave off, it's difficult to see his path

to victory even trump friendly media here in the us are saying it is hard to see how it may help. it took pretty much a month to end the dispute over the 2000 presidential contest. presumably mr biden and his tea m contest. presumably mr biden and his team will be hoping it is nothing like that and they can get on with the business of transition, because when you are, lebo, and i am sure you will be able to explain to our viewers, it is quite a protracted process and procedure that an incoming president goes through before he or she actually gets their hands on the levers of power? joe biden‘s team are basically beginning the process, they are undergoing the process of transition. they have a website and they are doing what they would normally do on monday. joe biden says he will be appointing a

team, task force that will look at theissues team, task force that will look at the issues of crisis around to coronavirus. they are getting on with what they might usually do. in terms of the process, there are a couple of key days in december. it is not the voters that elect the president, the voters elect the electors in the electoral college and they will meet in december and thatis and they will meet in december and that is a key point. but it is january the 20th that is the key day to watch, that is when constitutionally, the inauguration of the next president does have to ta ke of the next president does have to take place. there are various, quite complex and the series, chain of command as to who would take over if this was not resolved, but everybody will be hoping that it is. thank you very much. so, as counting continues in some states, how did joe biden get to the 270 electoral college votes

needed to make a victory certain? here's my colleague ros atkins with a summary. each state has a voice in the electoral college but that voice is weighted according to the size of population. as a result, big states we re population. as a result, big states were needed forjoe biden and the biggest one was pennsylvania. that pushed him over the line and gave him the 270 votes the electoral couege him the 270 votes the electoral college needed to make victory certain. to become president of america, you need a majority in the electoral college. this is a system where candidates compete for individual states. if you win a state, you get a certain amount of electoral college votes, to become president, you need 270 electoral votes. because of the reasonable predictability of a lot of states in america, we always knew thatjoe biden

would take california, joe biden would take new york. it was the states that we couldn't predict that really decided which way the selection went and in the hours that followed the polls closing, actually, the news was better for president trump. he took florida early on, later on ohio and iowa. he also took texas which the biden campaign had given some attention to, but that is really where the good news stopped for president trump. then the biden campaign started getting better news. we know there was a huge focus on the midwest. hillary clinton lost all the key states in the midwest. joe biden was to try and win them back. and he took wisconsin, he took michigan, which meant that when the day started, he was on 253 electoral college votes, he needed 17 more to become president. there were various routes, either via the south—west — nevada and arizona, or simply through the state where he grew up, pennsylvania. he grew up in scranton. and a few hours ago, that's what happened. he took pennsylvania,

that took him over 270 to 273. we're still waiting on some states — north carolina, georgia, arizona, actually, nevada's been projected as well. he currently stands on 279. it doesn't matter what happens in these other states, he already has enough to be the president elect. now, one of the things that will define his presidency is how much progress he can make with congress. let's look at both houses of congress. the senate matters more because it's a tighter political contest. the democrats have a6, add in two independents who tend to vote for them, they're on a8, so are the republicans. there are four outstanding, two of those, north carolina and alaska, we expect to go in the direction of the republicans. the thing we're all focused on is the two run—offs for the two senate seats in georgia, they will happen in january. if the democrats take them, it will be 50—50 and then the deciding vote goes to the vice president and of course the vice president elect is kamala harris, a democrat. that is why there will be a huge amount of attention on georgia

in the coming weeks and that's not just because of the fact that we still don't know who won the state in the presidential election. i'll quickly mention the house as well, the lower house of congress, less politically dramatic, the democrats controlled it before election day, they still control it now. the republicans made some gains but that will not have any impact on the fact that the democrats on the whole control the lower house. though it is the senate that is the unknown at the moment but we know about the house and we know who's going to be president, too. so the us has a new president—elect, but what direction might his presidency take? joining me now is leslie vinjamuri, director of us and the americas programme, at chatham house. thank you very much for being here on bbc news. we have talked to you throughout the campaign about some of the policy initiatives that might be pursued and the impact on some

policy decisions president trump had already made, notably on climate change and the iran nuclear deal. where do you think president—elect biden‘s priorities will lie when he ta kes biden‘s priorities will lie when he takes office on the 20th of january next year? first of all, it is an historic day, it was quite extraordinary to watch, not only the people on the streets and the speeches, but the reactions from the rest of the world. the rest of the world is waiting to see whatjoe biden will do when it comes to america's role in the world. he has signalled very clearly, his intentions. he understands the greatest challenge for the united states is to tackle and defeat the pandemic and to restore america's economy. but he sees these two challenges is integrated with foreign policy that looks beyond america's borders, works with europe, with america's european

partners and re—infuses values and diplomacy into america's role in the world, pa rt of diplomacy into america's role in the world, part of solving the economic problem at home is renegotiating the rules of globalisation. i think that will be very important but this will bea will be very important but this will be a president who understands he needs to do that with others. you mentioned climate. joe biden has said he will re—enter the climate, the paris climate accord. america officially left the paris climate accord the day after the elections, so on accord the day after the elections, so on wednesday. so that will change and climate is right at the top of his agenda, both globally and domestically. the focus on trade, on china and certainly on regional security in the middle east and trying to bring america and europe back together to renegotiate an iran deal, all these agenda items will be

absolutely essential. they are not going to be easy, a lot has changed in the last four years. the vice president knows that, his team knows that. he has had hundreds, well over 1000 people working with him throughout the campaign to think very carefully about america's foreign policy. they have not been talking to foreign governments, they have been very careful, but this is a vice president who has a very long history as a foreign—policy senator, vice president and he has deep relationships across europe. it has been interesting to watch the rest of the world respond to a president—elect who has not yet received a concession from president trump. the rest of the world hasn't been waiting for that either. they have recognised the overwhelming victory of vice president biden. remember, he has not only won by more than 4 million popular votes, something that separates this election very clearly from 2016, he

is also on track to receive a similar number of votes in the electoral college is president trump. so by american measures, it isa trump. so by american measures, it is a very decisive victory. but nonetheless, he has not received a phone call, the traditional phone call that has always been delivered from the defeated candidate. the rest of the world hasn't waited, because i think they are very eager for america to come back to the world stage in a way that is predictable and is invested in diplomacy. will countries like china though be so eager to see a more traditional approach in the white house? have they found donald trump in some ways a more interesting, and more challenging partner?” in some ways a more interesting, and more challenging partner? i think there is no doubt under donald trump's presidency, america has clearly become much more focused on china, much more aware of the inequity, wanting the level playing

field. americans have unfavourable attitudes towards china, both sides of the aisle want to take a tougher line when it comes to questions of market access, technology, intellectual property rights, the democrats are concerned about values. china knows this, they have been watching this. there is a concern probably, even on the part of china to be able to work with an america that is predictable, that invest in diplomacy, where there can bea invest in diplomacy, where there can be a negotiation where one might expect to see follow—through. it is going to be a tough road, no doubt about it. vice president biden has talked about convening a summit of democracies, europe will be right up front on that, as would any other asian democracies and australia. the road ahead, when it comes to forging transatlantic cooperation on china, when it comes to the us china

confrontation is very fraught. but there is a moment when people want to be able to negotiate, they want to be able to negotiate, they want to be able to negotiate, they want to be able to talk and they want some degree and predictability. what a national leader says is what a national leader will do, we just haven't seen that for four years. as he becomes president elect now and goes on to become president after the 20th of january, he is inheriting a range of problems that would be jaw—dropping for any politician in most countries to engage in, but in the united states of all, coronavirus, the economy, trying to do something, as he says, trying to do something, as he says, trying to do something, as he says, trying to heal the wounds of the division in the country that have developed, arguably longer over the last four years. does he have the capacity to do that? he may be an experienced politician, but being experienced politician, but being experienced doesn't necessarily prepare you for this office. there have been experienced politician is in the white house before who have not been very successful? nobody can

understate the challenges. the pandemic alone is extraordinary. during the four or five days we have been waiting, waiting for this decision thousands of americans have died. joe biden knows that, he has spoken about it, probably the only one during the last four days. he knows the challenges. i think what we have seen throughout the course of his many, many decades of public service is a man who seeks to work with others and who seeks to build coalitions. he has been part of an america that actually did bipartisan foreign policy in a serious way, so he understands congress, obviously having served as a senator for so long and serving on the senate judiciary committee, he understands how to do the hard work of building coalitions, not only in the us

government, but across america. he has not come from an elite background, he wasn't an ivy league candidate, he grew up in pennsylvania and he understands america. we have seen the numbers, donald trump has won millions, millions of votes from americans. i don't think anybody is naive about what lies ahead. either at home or in foreign policy, where america's global image has quite frankly been trashed for four years. but again, this is a man who has deep relationships overseas and he has a team. the key what we will be watching with joe biden team. the key what we will be watching withjoe biden is who is on his team, we have good indications of who some of those people will be. it runs deep and that team, many of those team members also have very deep experience and relationships across europe and far beyond. it is the best hope america has an policy

and politics are always about alternatives. yes, they have taken the alternative route in this election. thank you so much for talking us through the territory faces him. it is certainly daunting. thanks very much. earlier, i spoke to the bbc‘s correspondent in berlin, damien mcguinness. he sastoe biden‘s victory could change european positions over upcoming trade deals. president biden believes in multilateral institutions. president trump was accused of undermining those institutions. for berlin and germany and europe in general, those institutions are crucial for security, for economic prosperity. when it comes to brexit, i think the awareness here withjoe biden, even though you might have some policy differences, for germany, when it comes to trade links with china or energy links with russia, those problems will not go away.

but what you have got is you have a person who believes in those institutions, who is willing to talk, willing to negotiate and is predictable. is not unpredictable as president trump is accused of being. when it comes to brexit, i think it is going to be a great reassurance for the eu and for germany in particular, that you have someone who is prepared to stand up for those institutions. in germany, the main view here is that it is those institutions which keep the eu together, but also keep the european economy going. it has been a very stressful time the past four years, certainly for germany and many other european countries because of this undermining of those institutions which germany views as so crucial. people will remember you talking about germany and angela merkel, who will be leaving office herself

in the not—too—distant future, being humiliated by president trump and particular international meetings. do you think there is a sense that the alignment of interest they hope will develop between a biden white house and the eu can go into other areas? there are areas of conflict, trade is one and the other is intellectual property and the taxation, for example, of international companies. never mind the view of the wider world and in particular, the washington view of moscow and what russia is doing on europe's doorstep? that is right. there is an awareness that those problems will not go away. when you look at the concrete policy criticisms that have come out of the trump administration, many of those have cross—party consensus in washington. if you look at a pipeline being built from a gas pipeline

to sell russian gas to germany directly built under the baltic sea. it is incredibly controversial, not only for washington but also some of germany's eu allies. it is seen as increasing german and european dependent on russian energy sources. that is something president trump has been incredibly critical of and has started a process of sanctions against companies involved in that pipeline process. but criticisms will not go away under the next administration. this is something with cross—party agreement on that. at the same with germany's close trade ties with china. that makes both parties in washington feel very uncomfortable. those criticisms will keep coming at germany, but what i think we will see, and ifeel this is the relief we are feeling, if not the celebrate mood,

to be frank in berlin, even though you will have those policy differences, what politicians and voters here tell you, at least in president—elect biden, you are going to have someone you can talk to. the difficulty for berlin and why politicians and the government here have been so unnerved, they felt they couldn't communicate or even understand president trump. it is no secret the relationship between angela merkel and donald trump was incredibly difficult, it was barely functioning. looking forward, even though there are policy differences and the struggles they will not change, i think the tone will be different and the relationship is going to be one you can work on. that is the key thing i think for berlin. the challenge for president—elect joe biden is to establish what direction the united states will ta ke direction the united states will take in relation to other world powers. he has already said he will t powers. he has already said he will opt back into the climate change agreement and also the iran nuclear deal, which will not be popular in countries such as israel. joe biden will take office here at the white house on wednesday the 20th of

january in the inauguration of the 46th president of the united states of america. we will be there for you throughout the coverage of the inauguration, just as we have been through this campaign. this is bbc news. a man has been shot and killed by police in swindon following reports of two men arguing in the street. an independent investigation has been launched after the fatal shooting of the 57—year—old during a police response. the shooting happened in summers street, around 2am this morning. the independent 0ffice for police conduct said their ‘thoughts and sympathies are with all those affected by this terrible incident‘. the government is to spend about £400 million to support poor children and their families in england, following a campaign by footballer marcus rashford. a winter grant scheme, to be run by councils, will provide support with food and bills, and a holiday food and activities

programme is to be expanded. 0ur political correspondent chris mason reports. marcus rashford's campaign has prompted the government to act before. now, he's done it again. the prime minister phoned him yesterday afternoon to set out his plans, and the footballer‘s told bbc breakfast he's delighted borisjohnson has changed his mind, and will talk to his task force, trying to reduce child food poverty. i've been sort of excited to speak to him, really, because i want to let him know, like, on our half of things, like, it's never , we're not, like, against him. and i think that's like, the main reason why i was happy to talk to him since the last time i spoke to him. because obviously a lot‘s happened since then, i just wanted to reiterate the fact that, you know, the perfect situation for me is that the government actuallyjoin the team or sits down and has

a conversation with the team and then they can make decisions from there. you know, now that he's willing to do that, it's a massive step in terms of what the future looks like. here is what is going to happen now in england. a new covid winter grants scheme in england, run by councils will focus on providing support with food and bills, and will receive funding from the beginning of next month until the end of march next year. the existing holiday activities and food programme, which helps disadvantaged children, will be expanded across england next year. and payments under the healthy start scheme, which helps poor pregnant women and those with children under four, will go up to £4.25 a week from april. it's obviously most important for the families and, you know, on the phone he kept thanking me. but then in the back of my mind it's the families

that deserve the u—turn, and i actually thanked him on behalf of the families. because i know 100% they would have wanted to say thank you to him if they had the chance. help had already been announced in scotland, wales and northern ireland. marcus rashford has praised the government's climb down in england as nothing but positive. he added, though, 1.7 million children still missed out on support because their family income wasn't deemed low enough for help. chris mason, bbc news. freight drivers have been added to the list of people who must self isolate upon arrival to the uk, if they have travelled from or through denmark. millions of mink are being culled in the country, after a mutated strain of coronavirus found on mink farms infected around 200 people. flights and ferries between the uk and denmark have been stopped and foreign visitors travelling from denmark will be denied entry to the uk.

today, a very little bear is celebrating a very big birthday — rupert has turned 100. to celebrate the milestone, sir paul mccartney has released a remake of his 1984 animated short film, "rupert and the frog song" and royal mail has produced a collection of stamps. illustrations of rupert bear first appeared in the daily express in 1920 and became a tradition for many. now it's time for a look at the weather with tomas shafernaker. well, it's been pretty grey and drizzly out there today. the rain's also been quite heavy, for example, in northern ireland and it looks as though it's going to stay like it through most of the day across much of the country. but the weather will improve

somewhat a little bit later on in south—western parts of england, wales and also northern ireland and the reason for it is because the weather front is starting to clear these areas here. see this gap in the cloud here? the clearer weather is just starting to filter into south—western parts of england. just like yesterday, also this weather front has brought very mild air, in fact it's coming all the way from the mediterranean and spain. the air has been moving across france northwards and spreading right across the country so i know if you look out of the window it may look really unpleasant, grey and drizzly, but it's actually quite mild out there. the temperatures this afternoon will probably peak at around about 16 degrees, 15 or 16 degrees in the south of the country and really double figures right across the board. look at that, belfast at around 14. so that's way above the average. now let's have a look at the forecast for this evening and overnight — not an awful lot changes. again, a lot of cloud across the uk. bits and pieces of rain into tomorrow as well. you can see showers developing by the end

of the night across the south. and these are the overnight lows, so double figures across a large part of the country, just about dipping to 8 degrees there may be in the lowlands of scotland. here's the weather map for monday and another weather front moving in across south—western parts of the country. so i think here, right from the morning onwards, a good chance of running into some showers, some of them could be heavy. the best chance of some bright, if not sunny weather, at least for a time, is across parts of scotland, maybe aberdeenshire here as well, around inverness there could be some sunshine around. but look at the temperature — 16 in the south, 14 in liverpool, 14 in belfast and double figures as far north as our in lerwick. now into next week, so monday, tuesday and wednesday we're expecting by wednesday this weather front to move in. you can see some more substantial rain there sweeping across ireland, moving into parts of wales and other areas of england and scotland. so western areas, i think western areas on wednesday will have at times, gale force winds around coasts and also outbreaks of rain.

that's it from me. bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... joe biden says his win in the american election as a convincing victory for "the people" — and promises to unite

and heal the country. i pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but to unify. who doesn't see red states and blue states, only sees the united states. the victory for mr biden and his running mate — kamala harris — who will make history by becoming the first female vice president — sparked nationwide celebrations among democrat supporters. manchester united footballer, marcus rashford, describes a government u—turn over free school meals in england as a "ma donald trump has not conceded — the white house said he would accept the results of a fair election. the uk government is urging people to mark remembrance sunday at home this year — by taking part in the two minute silence, watching events on television and sharing personal stories over social media.

now on bbc news...let‘s join live coverage of the remembrance sunday commemorations from whitehall in london.

now the official march of the royal navy: heart of oak. the minstrel boy to the war is gone. in the ranks of death you'll find him. the dead of the first

and second world war still lie where they fell, farfrom home. now the welsh anthem, men of harlech.

remembering these seven years siege of harlech castle by the english in the 15th century. —— the seven years siege.

these senior drum major of the grenadier guards,. stand is the massed bands at ease to make way for the royal scots dragoon guards telling of the escape of bonnie prince charlie to the isle of skye after the failure of his rebellion in 1745.

massed bands... turn! and now isle of beauty. this morning it is not just and now isle of beauty. this morning it is notjust here at the cenotaph, but hundreds of war memorials around the country, that this day is commemorated. sadly today, fewer people will be gathering to pay their homage.

and now the traditional music continues. the bands will now play david of the white rock and 0ft in the stilly night.

men of harlech. easy! the pipes and drums play flowers of the forest. solemn music many papers only play at funerals and memorial services.

turn! and now, from edward elgar‘s enigma variations, nimrod — the hunter.

as we wait for the procession of clergy and choir who will lead the service of remembrance. dido's lament by henry purcell, "when i am laid in earth".

cross bearer 0liver davies.

the children in their scarlet and gold coats. ten of them. and behind them, the gentlemen of the chapel royal. director of music. the groom of the vestry. the forces chaplain. and the deputy priest in ordinary.

dean of the chapel royal, the right reverend and right honourable dame sarah mullally. she will be conducting the service that follows the two minutes' silence. now the general office —— 0fficer now the general office —— officer of commanding london district and the chief of staff colonel bagshaw. the welsh guards captain. followed by the prime minister, borisjohnson, the prime minister, borisjohnson, the leader of the labour party. behind him, ian blackford of the snp. ed davey for the liberal democrats. jeffrey donaldson for the democratic unionist party. former prime ministersjohn

democratic unionist party. former prime ministers john major, democratic unionist party. former prime ministersjohn major, tony blair, david cameron, theresa may. sadiq khan, the mayor of london. the saddle roberts, representing plaid cymru. rishi sunak, chancellor of the exchequer and ben wallace, secretary of state for defence. and behind them, the service chiefs, led by general sir nicholas carter. the first sea lord admiral. chief of the general staff general sir mark colton smith and the chief of the air staff. and behind them, the representatives for the merchant navy and fishing fleets, david appleton, air transport auxiliary association and the civilian services, roy wilshaw, carrying their wreaths. followed by a very reduced number of high

commissioners. 0nly five today. usually over 40. malta, bangladesh, st vincent and the grenadines laying wreaths on behalf of other members of the commonwealth. priti patel on the left, home secretary. norman fowler, the speaker. the speaker of the house of commons lindsey hoyle. the ambassador of nepal and ireland and the many representatives of the faith communities. firing behind the balustrade. there are ten christian denominations and jewish, islamic,

hindu, buddhist, mormons, spiritualists and humanists. 0ver the years, their number has grown the years, their number has grown the ceremony. so it is nearly two minutes now until 11 o'clock and the two minutes' silence. so, this is the scene this morning. how very different from what we are used to. far apart, how very different from what we are used to. farapart, everybody how very different from what we are used to. far apart, everybody is standing. but the politicians, led by the prime minister, there. waiting to lay their wreaths.

members of the religious denomination standing behind the balustrade. every effort being made to keep people apart from each other. ina in a moment, the royal party, who will be laying wreaths at the cenotaph, will come out onto whitehall led by the prince of wales and the queen will be watching from the balcony. the prince of wales comes out first, followed by the duke of cambridge, the princess royal.

and her majesty the queen, who watches from the balcony, as members of the royal family take their place. to the north of the cenotaph. the prince of wales, who will be laying the queen's wreath on behalf of the whole nation. and so we wait for big ben to strike and two minutes' silence at 11 o'clock.

big ben chimes. big ben chimes.