this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock 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 will reflect badly on him. what do you say to the americans who are anxious about the fact that president trump is yet to concede and what that might mean for the country? well, i just might mean for the country? well, ijust think it's an embarrassment. more american states tighten coronavirus restrictions as rates of hospital admissions reach record levels. a long—awaited vatican report finds two popes, and other officials, ignored allegations of sex abuse against a former us cardinal. and the domestic workers in spain kept locked inside their employers' homes

since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. hello and welcome. joe biden has said president trump's refusal to concede the election is an "embarrassment" that will reflect poorly on his legacy. but the president—elect has insisted nothing will stop the transition of power and he's been working to build his future administration. our north america correspondent david willis reports. if problems with the transition are getting to him, joe biden isn't letting it show. we are already beginning the transition. we are well under way and the ability for the

administration in anyway by failing to recognise our win does not change the dynamic of what we are able to do. citing claims of voterfraud, president trump is currently withholding millions of dollars infunding withholding millions of dollars in funding that is intended to facilitate the transfer of power and although his campaign is yet to provide any evidence of such abuse, the president is still refusing to concede.” just 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 are hopeful that the united states'

democratic institutions are viewed once again as being strong is enduring. this time of four years ago, newly elected donald trump was being welcomed to the white house by barack obama. there may be no such welcome forjoe biden with senior republicans refusing to accept his victory and the secretary of state making this extraordinary claim. there will bea extraordinary claim. there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. all right, we're ready. the world is watching what's taking place here. we're going to count all votes. when the processes complete, there will be electors selected and the world should have every confidence that the transition necessary to ensure the state department is successful today and on january 20 department is successful today and onjanuary 20 in the afternoon will also be successful. america's allies are meanwhile acknowledging

what the trump administration will not. britten‘s boris johnson among the first to offerjoe biden its congratulations along with france's emanuel macron. both men spoke of shared priorities, among them the coronavirus on climate change as the president remained holed up at the white house working on his legal strategy. a new opinion poll suggests nearly 80% of the american population believes joe biden has won the right to spend the next four years there. a vatican report has found that two popes — john 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 at popejohn paul ii's former secretary who they believe

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 has come 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 a 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 late stjohn paul ii, the 449—page report said that despite warnings of mccarrick‘s wrongdoing, and being advised not to promote him, he chose to believe three american bishops and 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. if the church really wanted to do the right thing for victims, they would turn over the records, but i still think, personally, i feel they're 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, quote, credible allegations. the vatican says it wants

to repair the damage done. we have taken significant steps forward to ensure greater attention to the 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. russia is deploying hundreds of peacekeeping troops to nagorno—kara bakh 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. let's get some of the day's other news: clashes have broken out in the peruvian capital between security forces and protesters angry at the impeachment of president martin vizcarra on corruption charges. police fired tear gas to keep protesters from the congress building where the speaker was sworn in as replacement president. 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.

the high court in london is to consider today whether an american woman implicated in the death of a british teenager has diplomatic immunity. harry dunn, who was 19, died after his motorbike collided with a car being driven on the wrong side of the road. new guidance has been issued to universities in england setting out how students can return home safely for christmas without causing a spike in coronavirus infections. they'll be given staggered departure dates in the week to december the 9th, by which point all lectures and seminars will move online. similar plans will be announced in scotland and wales today. the government has also asked universities to offer students rapid, voluntary tests for covid—i9. danjohnson has this report. a negative test result could be the passport students need for the journey home at christmas with a week set aside at the end of england's lockdown as a travel window to return to their families.

departures will be staggered by universities to manage the numbers moving each day. it should lift the question mark that's been hanging over christmas for many students like millie in bournemouth, hoping to head home to essex. me and a lot of my friends are quite stressed about it really because there's so much talk about whether we can actually go home or whether we'll have to stay here at uni and not be with family at christmas, so it's quite hard, really, not knowing what we're going to be able to do. durham is one of the pilot universities that trialled a self—test system for 850 of its students and 60 staff. so far, only five cases have been confirmed. it's the same sort of rapid result test that will be rolled out across campuses, prioritised to areas where the virus is circulating more. any students testing positive will have to follow normal isolation rules but they should be able to do that,

recover and still get home in time for christmas. i think any testing is good news. part of the challenge is that anybody travelling between two quite distant parts of the country may be carrying the virus from one part of the country to another, and so ensuring that people who are travelling across the country are as free of the virus as we possibly can ensure that they are is important. this guidance applies to students in england, but the other nations are expected to make an announcement soon. teaching will move entirely online from december, so learning can carry on at home, but there are some questions about the impact a positive test result could have on a student household or in halls of residence and making enough tests available to deliver results reliably on time will be a challenge. stay with us on bbc news. still to come:

one, two, three... ho—ho—ho! very nice, give yourselves a round of applause. very good. meeting santa in the age of covid—i9.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines: joe biden has said president trump's refusal to concede the election is an "embarrassment" that will reflect poorly on his legacy. a report from the vatican has found that senior church officials, and two popes, turned a blind eye to allegations of serial sexual abuse by a now—disgraced cardinal in the united states. more american states have tightened coronavirus restrictions on a day when more than 60,000 people were receiving hospital treatment for the disease, a new record.

a member of mr biden's coronavirus advisory board says there is little doubt now that american hospitals are about to be overrun. andy slavitt is a former head of health care under president obama and isjoining us from minnesota. thank you for being on the programme. can you put these headlines in context? hospitalisations are at a record now for those coming in with coronavirus. what does that mean for the hospital is dealing with these patients? well, here in the us, we are at a scary stage of the virus because we are just at the onset of the file, our thanksgiving holiday, christmas, and we have something like 15 states now that i reaching capacity limits with hospitals and more to come. and, of course, when you

act on the virus to late, you can only affect what happens next month, not what happens right now. do you think the us needs to see more lockdowns in a similarway to needs to see more lockdowns in a similar way to what we are seeing in europe? you know, i think the us has real social problems dealing with any kind of sacrifice, even if it is for only a few weeks or a few months. one would think with the great news out of the vaccine trials that we're going to see not just vaccine trials that we're going to see notjust from this but from several others, that should give the public patients to say, there are a whole bunch of activities like bars and schools and so forth that are u nsafe to schools and so forth that are unsafe to do for a short period of time. there are lots of things that are still safe to do and we should allow people to do those things. joe biden, president—elect, is putting together a covid task forces, his top priority. what do you

make of his action so far? remembering that barack obama and joe biden came in 2008 when the markets were tanking and joe biden has experience dealing with the fact that he has to move a crisis forward or the rest of the country will not move and i think he is pretty calm and steady. there are things he can do and certain things that he can —— cannot do until he takes office, but giving people the confidence that those things are going to come and that we are going to come and that we are going to have notjust more testing but we will pass things in congress such as medical leave, vaccine distribution, and then there is something which is probably hardest of offer this country which is using the bully pulp it. it has been sitting vacant for the last year and he needs to step in and he will and convince people that they should just be

getting on board with helping one another. thank you for your time. the bbc has discovered that domestic workers in spain have been kept locked inside their employers' homes since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. women have told us they have been unable go outside for many months, while more than 20,000 have been fired. our europe correspondent, jean mackenzie has this exclusive report. isabella is one of thousands of women in spain working as a live—in cleaner. they're too often mistreated and now many are trapped. and for months, isabella had to refuse sexual requests.

what happened when the lockdown started? two weeks into the lockdown, she was fired without notice, but many women are still living these nightmares. we've heard from workers who been kept locked inside their employer‘ homes since the start of the pandemic. i‘ve managed to speak to one of them, maria, using audio messages. what‘s it been like, being locked in the house now for so many months?

spain has more domestic workers than any other country in europe. it‘s a huge part of the culture and because most of them live in the houses with their employers, they are just so vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. and, crucially, domestic workers do not have the same legal rights as other workers in spain. edith has set up a union for domestic workers and during the pandemic, she has been contacted by around 100 women who have been kept inside like maria.

the spanish government didn‘t want to be interviewed, but told us they do need to improve the rights of domestic workers and that cases of women being locked in houses are unacceptable. the prince of wales will attend a service at westminster abbey this morning to commemorate the return of the unknown warrior to britain. the body of one serviceman, chosen from four that were disinterred from first world war battlefields, was brought to london for reburial at the abbey a hundred years ago today. the coronavirus pandemic has put a hold on countless

celebrations and festivities this year, but the bbc has received intel from the very top, that santa and his helpers are doing everything they can to fulfil their duties this christmas. even if it means doing things a little differently! sophia tran—thomson has this report. good work, guys. big smiles. this is christmas in a pandemic. in australia, the virus is largely under control now and aussie kids can already visit centre. socially distanced, obviously. but in other parts of the world, meeting kids in person might be ha rd meeting kids in person might be hard this year. i've heard some rumours going around that christmas is councils, but i say on my left boot! it is not cancelled this year. the ministry of fun has created an app for virtual meetings. it has been a hard year of mystic

make for everyone. children need something joyful to look forward to so we have been working on virtual meetings. along with the real centre, for logistical reasons, a number of his helpers are also getting tech savvy. welcome to the ministry of fun santa school 2020! children spend a lot of time on ipads and talking to friends to smartphones, so for a child, meeting father christmas on a screen is quite a normal and natural thing. normal in 2020, at least. but for santa, who is more vulnerable than most because of his age and weight, being extra cautious, saying distanced or meeting virtually will be the safest way forward these holidays. bye-bye! it's it‘s good to know, isn‘t it? a la top business stories coming

up la top business stories coming up next. as evenjust la top business stories coming up next. as even just a la top business stories coming up next. as evenjust a moment. 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 one or two 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.

he‘d this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. the world‘s biggest retail event — alibaba‘s singles day — once again causes a shopping frenzy despite the financial fallout from the global pandemic. apple forges ahead alone! for the first time in 15 years the tech giant uses its own chip processor for its latest macbook air. and the second uk lockdown is forcing many of us to have an early night, we take a look at what impact that‘s having on nightclubs and the overall night—time economy. you may or may not have heard of singles day —