this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. president elect on the president — joe biden says donald trump's refusal to concede the election is an embarrassment. how cani how can i say this tactfully? i think it will not help the president's legacy. britain's health secretary says the national health service could be ready to roll out the new coronavirus vaccine in weeks, but warned there are still many hurdles to jump. the logistics are complex. the uncertainties are real. and the scale of the job is vast. russian peacekeeping forces begin deploying in nagorno—karabakh,

after armenia and azerbaijan sign a peace deal to end their conflict over the disputed region. and tributes to saeb eerekat, one of the leading palestinian political figures of the past 30 years who's died after contracting coronavirus. hello, and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. it was pushback time today for the us president—elect against republican efforts to undermine his victory. as donald trump tweets his outrage, mr biden‘s strategy — to be deliberately calm. speaking in delaware, he told reporters he was getting

on with the job of building the next administration, and seemed relaxed by the prospect of the trump administration refusing to engage in any handover. we are already beginning the transition. we're well under way. and the ability for the administration in any way by failure to recognise our win does not change the dynamic at all and what we're able to do. we announced yesterday, as you know, the health group that we've put together today. we'll be going and moving along in a consistent manner, putting together our administration, the white house, and reviewing who we'll pick for the cabinet positions. and nothing's going to stop that. so i'm confident that the fact that they are not willing to acknowledge we won at this point

is not of much consequence in our planning and what we're able to do between now and 20 january. mr biden was asked what effect donald trump's refusal to concede would have — here's how he responded. ijust think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. the only thing that... how can i say this tactfully? i think it will not help the president's legacy. i think that, i know from my discussions with foreign leaders thus far, that they're hopeful that the united states‘ democratic institutions are once again viewed as being strong and enduring. mr biden also promised to "dramatically ramp up" health care protection once he assumes power, saying he would build on the affordable care act — otherwise known as obamacare. his comments came as the us

supreme court began hearing arguments brought by states governed by republicans seeking to overturn the legislation. the president—elect accused "far—right ideologues" of trying for a third time to strip health care coverage from millions of americans during a pandemic. obamacare's a law that every american should be proud of. it's why people with pre—existing conditions are protected in this country. it's a law that delivered vital coverage, as i said before, for 20 million americans who did not have coverage. it's a law that reduced prescription drug price costs for nearly 12 million seniors. it's a law that saved lives and spared countless families from financial ruin. so this effort to bypass the will of the american people, the verdict of the courts in the past, thejudgements of congress, in my view, is simply cruel and needlessly divisive.

we've also heard from the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, on what he thinks about the current standoff between the trump and biden campaigns. he was asked if a delay from the state department to engage with the biden transition team could hamper a smooth transition of power. this was his reply. there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. we're ready. the world is watching what's taking place. we're going to count all the votes. when the process is complete, they'll be elector—selected. there's a process, the constitution lays it out pretty clearly. the world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to make sure that the state department is functional today, successful today, and successful with the president who is in office on 20 january in the afternoon is also successful. i'm joined now by our correspondent nomia iqbal in wilmington delaware.

he went on to say that whoever would be ectopic as the world and world leaders, we also be in a parallel universe here between the trump team is still refusing to budge? it's pretty astonishing, really, isn't it? just listening there to mike pompeo's words there, this is america's top diplomat, who says to leaders of other countries around the world, "respect your democratic processes , the world, "respect your democratic processes, listen to the will of the people." and he seemingly doesn't wa nt to people." and he seemingly doesn't want to do that here. he seems to have fallen in line, we heard from william barr earlier today, the government's attorney, that they back at donald trump is make unsubstantiated claims of voter

fraud in the election being stolen. donald trump is still tweeting away, claiming that there's no evidence to back any of it. but it is a parallel world, the world is moving on, joe biden said earlier about how he's been chatting to world leaders and as far as he's concerned, the transition is happening, and he listed that crucial date, 20 january, which is the day biden will become president. it's worth pointing out that the gsa, which handles the transfer of powers is refusing the request from joe biden‘s team to authorise that. that's right, they need the money to make the transition how to make her happen around $10 million, and that is holding things up. and you have to wonder why this is happening? i think lots of republicans are falling in line with donald trump because it's what they've been doing for the last four years, which is basically not standing up to him.

and they think there might be some logic in them may be backing the president, hoping that the courts will do the work for them. because asi will do the work for them. because as i mentioned, there needs to be evidence. at the moment itjust seems like a political fight, not a legal fight. because when this goes to the court, it won't make it past the first step, because you need evidence to back all this. based keep saying to count the votes, the codes are —— votes are being counted and they show thatjoe biden is ahead, that he's won on the electoral college system. you know, i don't know how long it'll take for the trump team or for trump to acknowledge that. we know donald trump doesn't like to admit defeat. thank you very much indeed. here in btitain, the health secretary, matt hancock, says the nhs should be ready to roll out a coronavirus vaccine by the start of december — if it is approved. but he urged caution, warning it would be an enormous logistical task, and it wasn't clear how many people would have to be vaccinated in order for life

to return to some sort of normality. it comes as the uk recorded its highest daily death toll since the middle of may — 532 more people have died. here's our medical editor fergus walsh. this is liquid hope, the first covid vaccine proven to be effective, in production in germany. if regulators approve it for use, a few million doses of the pfizer biontech vaccine should be available in the uk before the end of the year. the health secretary said the military and nhs staff would be on standby to roll out a vaccine from the start of december. the uncertainties are real, and the scale of the job is vast. but i know that the nhs, brilliantly assisted by the armed services, will be up to the task. so, who will get it first? put simply, the older you are, the sooner you will be eligible for a covid vaccine.

currently in pole position are elderly care home residents and staff. then people aged 80 and over, plus front line nhs workers. the vaccine will then be allocated to younger age groups in bands of five years. but that is dependent on it being effective in older adults, and we're still waiting for that data. adults under 65 with underlying health conditions will also be given some priority. there should be enough doses of the pfizer vaccine to immunise 20 million people, so younger adults may have to wait for other vaccines to come through. the pfizerjab is not intended for children. vaccinators go into care homes to immunise vulnerable, older residents. gp surgeries will play a crucial role, some may be open seven days a week. large venues, like sports halls,

are also likely to be used for mass immunisation. the pfizer vaccine trials were mainly conducted in the united states and germany. initial findings suggest it's 90% effective at preventing covid—19. caution is needed, but the early results are surprisingly good. even the optimists amongst us were hoping for 50—60%, so this puts this vaccine straight up at the top of the league in terms of vaccines that we have and how effective they can be. traditional vaccines use a weakened or inactivated whole virus, but the pfizer covid jab uses only a tiny amount of genetic code found in the spike protein on its surface. this synthetic rna is what prompts the immune system to recognise and remember coronavirus. this bodes well for other covid vaccines, which also use the spike

protein to create immunity. results from the oxford astrazeneca vaccine trials are expected in a matter of weeks. how do you feel? i feel fine. if they, too, are also positive, it would be another decisive step out of the shadow cast by this pandemic. fergus walsh, bbc news. russia is deploying hundreds of peacekeeping troops to nagorno—karabakh and surrounding territories, after it brokered a peace deal between armenia and azerbaijan. over the past six weeks, more than 1,000 people have been killed — most of them were ethnic armenian fighters. more than 100,000 have been displaced. the region is internationally recognised as azerbaijan's, but it has been run by ethnic armenians since 1994. the deal triggered celebrations

in azerbaijan, and angry scenes in armenia, where protesters called for the resignation of the prime minister. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, reports from the azerbaijani capital, baku. a nation buoyed up by victory. no social distancing in baku. for azerbaijanis, there is plenty to celebrate in the overnight peace deal signed, sealed and delivered by russia. and just look at the president, ilham aliyev. he's mocking the armenian prime minister, nikol pashinyan. "what has happened, pashinyan?", he asks. "this will probably be the talk of the town for many years." in the armenian parliament, it was more of a scandal. protesters cried betrayal...

..attacking the prime minister's nameplate. he said the deal was unspeakably painful, but there was no other choice. so azerbaijan gets to keep the gains made in battle in recent weeks. that includes the second largest city in nagorno—karabakh — but not the capital. armenia has to withdraw from swathes of territory it occupied around the disputed region. russia gets boots back on the ground in this corner of the caucasus'. its peacekeepers and its tanks already rolling between the two sides. tell all the world, we'rejust coming home. that's a home she has never seen. her parents were pushed out of nagorno—karabakh nearly 30 years ago. so, could she live there now with armenians who remain? yeah, we can live.

like, what is the problem with us? but, actually, it takes a long time. maybe years? yeah, maybe years, maybe, i don't know, decades. maybe only our own sons, our daughters, our sons will see this. crowds are coming and going here, young and old, family groups. people have been gathering to celebrate and there is a real sense here that a key victory has been achieved after many long years of waiting. it's notjust the end of the past six weeks of fighting, it's the recovery of territory that is seen here as a missing piece of the homeland. many on both sides fought and died for that territory in the last war in the 1990s. today, plenty of visitors at the alley of the martyrs in baku. the peace deal does not return all of nagorno—karabakh.

so, for azerbaijan, it's not a complete victory but, for armenia, it is a comprehensive defeat. —— crushing defeat. 0rla guerin, bbc news, baku. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a long—awaited report into sex abuse by a former us cardinal finds failings by past popes and vatican officials. the bombastic establishment outsider donald trump has defied the pollsters to take the keys to the oval office. i feel great about the election results. i voted for him because i genuinely believe that he cares about the country. it's keeping the candidate's name always in the public eye that counts. success or failure depends not only on public display, but on the vocal campaign headquarters and the heavy routine work of their women volunteers. berliners from both east and west

linked hands and danced around their liberated territory. and, with nobody to stop them, it wasn't long before the first attempts were made to destroy the structure itself. yasser arafat, who dominated the palestinian cause forso, long has died. the palestinian authority has declared a state of mourning. after 17 years of discussion, the result was greeted with an outburst ofjoy. women ministers whom long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy suddenly felt welcome. this is bbc news, our top story... president—elect on the president — joe biden says donald trump's refusal to concede the election is an embarrassment. a vatican report that took two years to complete has found two popes and top officials from the catholic church ignored allegations of serial sex abuse

by a former cardinal in the united states. this is theodore mccarrick, who was expelled from the priesthood last year — the first cardinal ever to be defrocked over sexual abuse. vatican officials say they found popesjohn paul the second and benedict xvi had been told of mccarrick‘s assaults, but chose to believe his denial. here's our rome correspondent, mark lowen. and interviewed 90 witnesses. some of them in interviews up to 30 hours. and it really is a damning litany of cover—ups, complicity, and errors not just by litany of cover—ups, complicity, and errors notjust by individuals, but of the entire culture within the catholic church that allowed cardinal mccarrick to rise to the top echelons of the church in spite of serial allegations of abuse over

the decades. in terms of the implications for pope john the decades. in terms of the implications for popejohn paul ii, now a saint, he was declared a saint in 2014, he was said in the report to have been warned and told of mccarrick‘s crimes. and yet he chose to believe three american bishops who concealed his crimes instead. mccarrick himself wrote a letter to the then popejohn paul ii denying all the allegations against him, moving on to benedict 16 as pope, who was also informed of his crimes against adults and minors. but he instead simply asked him to lead a lower profile life —— benedict xvi. then with pope francis himself, who was informed of some of the previous allegations then waited until 2017 when there was a concrete proof, in the words of the report, of an allegation of a crime against a

minor, which was presented to pope francis, then pope francis took action, ordering this report and stripping mccarrick of the priesthood and forcing them out of the college of cardinals, the first cardinal to be forced to resign over sex abuse. the head of the catholic church in england and wales has been heavily criticised for putting the reputation of the church ahead of its duty to survivors of child abuse. the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse examined more than 3,000 accusations up to 2015. it said cardinal vincent nichols had not shown "compassion towards victims in the recent cases". cardinal nichols told the bbc he offered to resign, but pope francis wanted him to stay in his post. south—east asian leaders are gathering in vietnam this week for their biannual asean summit. 0n the agenda will of course be the incoming administration of president—electjoe biden, and what it means for the region. of particular interest will be how countries in south—east asia can

balance long—standing strategic partnerships with the us with an increasing economic reliance on china. i'm joined by dino patti djalal, a former indonesian ambassador to washington. thank you very much forjoining us on bbc news. a lot of you will be welcoming the arrival ofjoe biden. why? well, joe biden is seen as a contrast to donald trump. donald trump was seen as a hard sell in the region in southeast asia. his america first policy was seen as a selfish policy, retreating from the transpacific partnership. he wasn't seen as being predictable or consistent, or focused, and seen as being predictable or consistent, orfocused, and did not have a clear policy toward southeast

asia. so i thinkjoe biden will be seen as a fresh change, an alternative to trump. president—electjoe biden is known as someone who runs foreign—policy well and has many networks, and is seen as not just well and has many networks, and is seen as notjust having a good demeanour, but a good substance to promote us policy in southeast asia. but in reality, although he won't be as outspoken perhaps as donald trump about china, there is a skepticism about china, there is a skepticism about china, there is a skepticism about china which joe about china, there is a skepticism about china whichjoe biden shares with donald trump. and is itjust your particular geographical location which makes it so difficult for southeast asian leaders to be able to balance that relationship between the us and china? well, absolutely. in recent months, there has been moved by secretary pompeo

to turn the region against china. and that's just not going to happen. the region has good relations with china, we have our own view and interests. we can manage our own relationships with china. we understand that the united states is locked in a strategic competition with china, but we think that the president electjoe biden will handle china differently, not in blanket opposition towards china, but a more elegant way and a more a la ca rt but a more elegant way and a more a la cart approach where they would compete and oppose china on certain things. but i think we would be able to co—operate on certain issues, as well. and that's what the region once, a us— china relationship where there is an increasing element of cooperation and less on opposition. we are out of time but very good to speak to you. thank you so much for joining us on bbc news.

the chief palestinian negotiator saeb erekat has died at the age of 65 — after contracting coronavirus last month, on top of previous serious health problems. palestinian president mahmoud abbas has declared three days of mourning. yolande knell looks back on his life you might not have known his name, but you'll have seen his face. for three decades, whenever palestinian and israeli leaders met, saeb erekat took a prominent place. the president urged... fluent in english, he studied in the us and the uk before becoming a key figure in the secular fatah movement back in the occupied west bank. in 1991, he drew attention, wearing his palestinian keffiyeh scarf at the madrid peace conference. he was close to the palestinian leader, yasser arafat. and with the breakthrough oslo peace accords, he became a peace negotiator... applause. ..sticking to thejob

after president mahmoud abbas took over through rounds of on and off talks. a viable two—state solution is the only way... he was a strong advocate of the two—state solution — the long—standing international formula for peace abandoned by the trump administration. he opposed arab gulf states normalising relations with israel but remained a moderate voice. and the only way to have peace in this region is to solve the palestinian question. is to solve the israeli—palestinian conflict. is to end the israeli occupation. saeb erekat had a lung transplant in the us in 2017 and had earlier survived a heart attack. his health deteriorated soon after testing positive for covid—19. palestinians will feel his loss strongly, at a time when relations with israel are at a new low and prospects for the creation of an independent palestinian state, the goal of his life's work, look increasingly dim. yolande knell, bbc news.

that's it for me and the team. see you soon. hello there. the mist and fog some of you have seen over the last few days is not as much of an issue over the next 24 hours or so. the mist and fog some of you see over the past few days notice much of an issue of the next 24 or so. the reason is it will be too windy at times and that wind will bring in thicker cloud with rain in the north and west. these are the weather fronts responsible and will push it through slowly, many eastern areas will be dry through the bulk of the day but it is here across east anglia and southeast we start off cooler and 1—2 fog patches. they will lift up and clear for a good part of wales and england stays dry, patchy drizzle in the west but across ireland and western parts into scotland, and you can see this narrow band of bright colours, an indication of intense rain particular returning afternoon.

a mild day tempered somewhat by the breeze, but that will be stronger touring the west was that these areas with sea wind over 40 mph, maybe touching 50 at times. most gusty on that bright band you can see there. the heavy rain which will puts its way eastwards across scotland and particularly across england and wales as we go through the wednesday night and into thursday morning, allowing clearing skies behind, thankfully temperatures not dropping too much. coolest conditions in thursday morning unlike on wednesday morning will be in the west. they will begin wet in the far east of scotland and east anglia — quite windy but the wind will clear and a little brief ridge of high pressure and a window of fine weather before more cloud and rain arrive. for many of you a dry day, some sunshine as well, best of the sunshine through western areas into the morning clouding over into the afternoon, drizzle possible by the end of the day and heaviest rain into western scotland. a little bit cooler than recent days. as we go through thursday night

and into friday, that rain will spread its way eastwards. it will push through the night for many of you. lingering across eastern areas first thing, sunshine a few showers in the west, but by and large daytime at least will be a dry day for many. again it would've been cooler in the breeze compared to how we start the week. going into the weekend, low—pressure close by with wather pushing through, we will have to watch how deep this area gets into the north—west on sunday, it could be wild and windy. rain at times this week and the better chance of sunshine between the downpours on sunday.

this is bbc world news.

the headlines... the us president elect, joe biden, has said the transition process is well under way, whether the trump administration acknowledges his projected election victory or not. mr biden told reporters that donald trump's refusal to concede was an "embarrassment". mr biden was speaking as the us supreme court began hearing a case which could overturn 0bamacare. the president—elect promised to "dramatically ramp up" healthcare protection once he assumes power building on presideint 0bama's affordable care act. a vatican report has found that two popes ignored allegations of serial sex abuse by a now disgraced former us cardinal theodore mccarrick. the report found that popes benedict and john paul ii chose to believe the cardinal's denials.