welcome to bbc news. i'm mike embley. our top stories: president—elect on the president — joe biden says donald trump's refusal to concede the election is an embarrassment. how can i say this tactfully? i think it will not help the president's legacy. a long—awaited vatican report finds two popes, and other officials, ignored allegations of sex abuse against a former us cardinal. russian peacekeeping forces begin deploying in nagorno—karabakh. the peace deal has prompted celebrations in azerbaijan and angry scenes in armenia. and tributes are paid to the veteran palestinian peace negotiator, saeb erekat, who has died after contracting coronavirus.

joe biden, the man elected to be the next president of the united states, has said nothing can stop the transfer of power. a week after americans voted, mr biden has been continuing to build his administration despite president trump's refusal to concede defeat. mr biden said that was an embarrassment that would reflect poorly on mr trump's legacy. our north america correspondent, ben wright, has been looking at the current state of the transition process. this time four years ago, donald trump was meeting president obama at the white house for initial discussions on beginning that process of cooperating to ease the transition. none of that, of course, is happening, certainly not at that level. it doesn't seem there have been any discussions whatsoever between president trump and joe biden, but the work of transition continues despite the unorthodox circumstances of all of this.

of course, in the last 24 hours or so, president—elect biden has revealed the names of his covid task force which will be the number one priority of his administration when it takes power and when he was asked about this earlier in delaware, joe biden said that the work of transition would continue even though they were not getting the normal sort of cooperation. 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. joe biden sounding very relaxed about the whole thing. that is his style, of course, but there are all sorts of rumours and who knows of any of them are true that the president may be planning more campaign—style rallies, he may be planning to sack the head of the fbi or even military action against iran. how is mr biden reacting

to all of that? yeah, because he is still president and will be until january the 20th and joe biden was quick to say that. he said donald trump remains in charge until the inauguration and we don't know yet how donald trump will choose to use this time. we have already seen the sacking of the defence secretary. there has been a rejig at the pentagon. you are right that the white house has suggested that he plans to use some time in the next few weeks to hold rallies in an effort to raise money for the legal challenges that the trump campaign is pursuing in a number of states in a hope of nibbling away at the vote count thatjoe biden has racked up. nobody thinks that will make any difference at all to the outcome. joe biden is the president—elect and will be inaugurated onjanuary the 20th, but he was very restrained, i thought, when he was asked about this earlier on. the furthest he went on expressing an opinion about the president's behaviour was this. 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. a lot of republicans seem to be rallying around mr trump's position. i think the secretary of state in particular raised quite a few eyebrows with what he has been saying. you are right. republicans in congress and in the administration are sticking with the president for now and there is a bizarre situation where foreign world leaders including the british prime minister and the chancellor of germany have called joe biden for congratulatory conversations at the same time as the american chief diplomat

maintains the idea in public that he thinks there can be a second term to donald trump's presidency. it is a very strange situation but this is what mike pompeo said earlier on. there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. all right, 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 a president who is in office on 20th january in the afternoon will also be successful. let's get some of the day's other news: guatemalan officials have called off a rescue operation at the site of a huge landslide caused by tropical storm eta where dozens of people are thought to buried. the national disaster

agency said the conditions in the village of queja had become too dangerous to continue. almost 90 people remain missing. italy, the first european country badly hit by the pandemic, has recorded its worst daily figure for coronavirus—related fatalities since mid—april. 580 more people have died. britain has registered its worst daily number of deaths since may, 532. the head of the english football association, greg clarke, has resigned after using out—dated and offensive language when discussing diversity in the sport during a meeting with lawmakers. clarke was criticised for using a racially offensive term when referring to black footballers. the 63—year—old apologised, but later quit saying his comments were a "disservice to our game." air pollution in delhi has reached its worst level this year. officially it is listed as severe and local residents say the smog is making their eyes and throats hurt. november is usually the worst month for air quality in india, as farmers burn stubble, but those who are breathing

the air say the clearer skies they enjoyed during the coronavirus lockdown earlier this year make it feel worse than usual. joe biden has flagged up his intention to protect and build on obamacare — the affordable care act. well, justices in the supreme court have just signalled they are not minded to strike it down, although they are being asked to, this week, by lawyers from texas and other republican—led states. mr trump's administration has long promised to remove and replace the act, and joined the court action. but in two hours of legal argument, the judges seemed sceptical about the republican argument that the entire law must fall if a single key provision, the so—called individual mandate, is ruled unconstitutional. amy goldstein is national healthcare policy writer at the washington post. well, the third time that the affordable care act has gotten as far as the supreme court in the ten years since it was enacted. the law, known as the aca or obamacare, as you say,

was a very broad statute that was passed by democrats a decade ago and has brought about the biggest changes in the us health care system in several decades. it's brought health insurance to an extra 22 or so million americans, it has provided people with any kind of health plan insurance protections including for people with pre—existing medical conditions, so whether this law stands orfalls is a big deal. in this case, unlike the last two, the big issue has to do with some changes in tax law that the republican congress made three years ago. among those changes, the penalty for people who did not carry health insurance that have been part of the aca was wiped out and the question now is whether that makes the aca unconstitutional in that part or in all of it.

as the us reports at least 100,000 cases of covid—i9 for a seventh consecutive day, more states have tightened restrictions to try to limit the spread. at least 60,000 people are receiving hospital treatment for the disease, a new record. a member of president—elect biden‘s coronavirus advisory board — dr michael osterholm — has said there is now no question that hospitals are about to be overrun. one in idaho had to turn away patients at the weekend because there was just no room. the companies behind an experimental coronavirus vaccine say they'll apply for emergency approval to use it before the end of this month. if approved, one of the challenges that follows will be how to get the drug to those who need it. here's our global health correspondent tulip mazumdar. as the scientists offer a glimmer of hope, the grave—diggers continue their grim task. all around the world, loved ones are laid to rest. so, with the news this week of a potentially very effective vaccine,

countries are racing to prepare for a possible roll—out. this is an absolutely unprecedented situation we find ourselves in today with over 200 vaccine candidates, a0 of them in clinical development within ten months of a new virus being discovered. but actually getting any successful products into communities is an epic logistical task. keeping vaccines cold or even deep—frozen on a colossal scale will be one of the key challenges. health workers will also have to locate vulnerable elderly people in very remote areas because, as the world health organization has repeatedly said, doing this protects all of us. no one is safe until everyone is safe. we know that demand for a successful vaccine will far outstrip supply in the initial months. so, three of the big global health and vaccine organisations have come up with a new system called covax. it aims to ensure everyone,

anywhere in the world who needs the vaccine most gets access to it first. it wants to procure 2 billion doses to protect at least i billion people in the next year. first, health workers, then the over 65s will be prioritised. so what you really want is a situation where you can begin to roll those vaccines out, to begin to dampen down the epidemic, but if you have a region that has a raging epidemic, you may want to put more priority in that region to be able to bring it down than another place that already has pretty good control. most rich countries are still making side deals directly with pharmaceuticals though. the uk, for example, has signed up for more than 300 million doses of six different vaccines. the us hopes to get 300 million doses of various vaccines by january. but remember, all of this is a bit of a gamble. the world health organization says any vaccine for covid—i9 must be at least 50% effective,

and we are going to need more than one. we simply don't know yet how much protection these other vaccines could give or how long any protection will last. the wait for life to return to some semblance of normality continues, but we are edging ever closer to that goal. tulip mazumdar, 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 last six weeks more than a thousand 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. our international

correspondent, orla 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 crushing defeat. orla guerin, bbc news, baku. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: protests in peru as the new president — manuel merino — is sworn in.

this is bbc world news. our top headline: us president—elect, joe biden, says president trump's refusal to accept defeat is an embarrassment that would reflect poorly on mr trump's legacy. he said nothing can stop the transfer of power. a vatican report has found that popesjohn paul ii and benedict xvi turned a blind eye to allegations of serial sex abuse against the american cardinal theodore mccarrick. pope francis expelled mccarrick from the church last year. mark lobel reports.

looking to clean up the catholic church. in poland, politicians angry output jump the seconds former secretary who they believed covered up child sexual abuse by priests. in paris, court proceedings are under way for pope francis‘s former envoy to france who is accused of groping men during public ceremonies. and in england and wales, an independent inquiry finds the catholic church catastrophically failed children in its care, with a lack of compassion shown to victims by its head. i offered my resignation to pope francis and his answer that came back very clear, very unambiguous, he wants me to stay in post. this slew of allegations continues to sully the reputation of the vatican. now

their own report into sexual abuse and who knew what about this man, the serial sex abuser and former archbishop of washington cardinal theodore mccarrick, paints are damning and uncomfortable picture of those at the very top. the two—year inquiry found that two popes and church officials ignored allegations of child sexual abuse presented to them. in the case of the latejohn paulil in the case of the latejohn paul ii, at the 4119 page report said that despite warnings of mccarrick‘s wrongdoing, and being advised not to promote him, he chills to believe three american bishops in the now defrocked american cardinal instead. in the case of the now retired pope benedict xvi, he is accused of lessening the punishment for theodore mccarrick to avoid a church trial. but for some, this inquiry does not go far enough. the church really wanted to do the right thing, they would turn over the records, but i still think, turn over the records, but i stillthink, personally, ifeel they are still trying to watch

their backs, trying to cover things up and put a better light on and they do that in this report by saying, well, there were no, court, credible allegations. the vatican says it wants to repair the damage done. we have taken significant steps forward to ensure greater protection of minors and more effective interventions to avoid a repetition of the errors of the past. but following the shocking indictment of a culture of cover—ups, victims groups are calling for a lot more to be done for any meaningful change. clashes have broken out in the peruvian capital lima between the security forces and protesters angry at the impeachment of president martin vizcarra. police fired tear gas to keep hundreds of protesters back from the congress building where the speaker manuel merino was sworn in as interim president. mr vizcarra, a centrist, was ousted by the chamber on monday on corruption charges he strongly denies.

aru na iyengar reports. running battles on the streets of lima as protesters clash with police. police fire tear gas, demonstrators make their voices heard. peruvians are angry. president vizcarra was impeached, but is popular. many say vizcarra should have finished his term. there is the coronavirus still raging, a crippling recession and financial markets nervous about whether a new government will maintain existing economic policies. translation: we are here fighting so that they don't step on us any more, so they don't keep stealing from us. this is a joke, a completejoke. there were five months left before the elections. what is the difference? what was the difference for them to wait longer? what was the difference? vizcarra was dismissed in an impeachment vote late on monday over allegations of bribery.

it's the second such trial he's faced in two months. he questions the legality and legitimacy of his removal, but says he did not want to cling onto power. translation: i'm worried. i'm worried, like the majority of peruvians. there is uncertainty. the issue was very forced. people have said, why didn't you stay in the palace? there's no way i would cling to a position. there's no way my desire to work can be compared to clinging to a position. the newly installed interim president, manuel merino, is little—known and is peru's third president in four years. a speaker of congress, the succession fell to him because peru has not replaced the vice president who resigned a year ago in a separate political crisis. merino used his first speech as president to call for national unity. it's going to be a tall order.

the signs here say it's a coup d'etat and merino is not my president. translation: the congressmen had joined together and have impeached the president in a shameful way and we are in the street to claim, to say that merino is not our president. crowds are pushing back against the new president, a businessman and member of the centre—right popular action party. he has a job on his hands, but for now intends to serve as interim president untiljuly in this troubled nation. the chief palestinian negotiator saeb erekat has died at the age of 65. he contracted coronavirus last month, on top of previous serious health problems. 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. golf now — and the masters starts at augusta on thursday, seven months after it was originally scheduled. many players, like spain's jon rahm seen here on the 16th hole, have taken to the course for some practice before the tournament tees off. and if this effort — slightly sped up — is anything to go by, he might just be the man to beat! and all on his 26th birthday.

not a birthday he is going to forget. that's it for now. thanks much for watching. hello. the mist and fog some of you've seen over the past few days, not as much of an issue over the next 2a hours or so. reason on wednesday behind that is that it'll be a little bit too windy at times, and that wind could bring in thicker cloud with rain in the north and west. these are the weather fronts responsible, they'll only slowly push their way through, so many eastern areas will be dry through the bulk of the day. but it is here across east anglia southeast that we start off with the coolest conditions and 1—2 mist and fog patches. they'll be fairly short—lived though, and will lift up and clear. as we said, much of wales, good part of england will stay dry. there could be some patchy drizzle in the west, but across ireland and into western scotland, rain will come and go all day. and you can just see this narrow band of bright colours — an indication there will be some pretty intense rain particularly during the afternoon. overall a fairly mild day, tempered somewhat by the breeze, and that wind will be strongest particularly

towards the west. these are the areas that will see winds over a0 mph, it may be touching 50 mph at times. most gusty though on that bright band you can see there, the heavy rain pushing its way through eastwards across scotland, particularly across england and wales as we go through wednesday night and into thursday morning, allowing clearing skies behind, thankfully temperatures not dropping too much. as we go into thursday morning, coolest conditions, unlike on wednesday morning, will be in the west. wet weather to begin with on the far east of scotland and across east anglia. quite windy here, but that wind will clear away with the rain. that little brief ridge of high pressure, a window of fine weather before more cloud and rain arrives. so for many of you, a dry day with some sunshine, as well. best of the sunshine in western areas through the morning — make the most of it, clouding over into the afternoon. patchy rain or drizzle possible by the end of the day, heaviest of the rain and western scotland into the west of northern ireland. a little bit cooler than recent days. as we go through thursday night and into friday, that rain will spread its way eastwards. it'll push through mainly during the night for many

of you, lingering across some eastern areas first thing. sunshine comes out, a few showers in the west, but by and large, the daytime at least will be a dry day for many. again, a little bit cool in the breeze compared to how we start the week. but as we go into the weekend, low pressure close by with sets of weather fronts pushing through. we'll have to watch just how deep this area of low pressure gets into the northwest on sunday. could be particularly wild and windy here. so while there still will be some rain at times this weekend, better chances of sunshine between the downpours on sunday.

this is bbc 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 defeat was an "embarrassment" and would reflect poorly on the president's legacy. a long—awaited vatican report has found that popesjohn paul ii and benedict the sixteenth ignored allegations of serial sex abuse against the now disgraced us cardinal, theodore mccarrick. the report found that both pontiffs had been told of mccarrick‘s assaults but chose to believe his denials. russia has been deploying troops in nagorno karabakh after armenia and azerbaijan signed a deal to end the military conflict in the disputed region. fighting there since september has left several thousand people dead. the peace deal has prompted celebrations in azerbaijan, and angry scenes in armenia.