welcome to bbc news — my name is mike embley. our top stories... us president—electjoe biden names a key appointee this is bbc news. to his administration — longtime aide ron klain the headlines: will serve as white joe biden's named a key appointee to his administration. ron klain, who first worked house chief of staff. for the us president—elect in 1989, will serve as the white house as president trump still holds chief of staff. back from conceding defeat — one of mr klain's more recent officials in georgia confirm roles saw him oversee the obama they'll recount the votes administration's response cast in the state. to the ebola outbreak. while president trump still holds back from conceding pro—democracy defeat in last week's election, lawmakers in hong kong resign en masse, after four the state of georgia of their colleagues has announced its first are expelled by china ever vote recount. for backing independence. joe biden leads there byjust 111,000 out of the five million votes cast. officials there will recount all of the paper ballots by hand. as america's covid—19 cases climb to a record high — there's a warning hospitals pro—democracy lawmakers in hong kong have resigned en masse from the legislative council, could soon be overwhelmed. after four of their

colleagues were expelled for backing independence. it comes after china granted the authorities new security powers, to quell dissent. beijing said only those it regards as patriots can serve. president—electjoe biden‘s announced a key appointee to his administration. his longtime aide ron klain will serve as his chief of staff. he served in a similar role during mr biden‘s vice—presidency. earlier, president trump made his first official appearance since election night — to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at arlington national ceremony, on armistice day. mr trump still refuses to concede that he lost the election. mr biden also attended a veterans day event in philadelphia, pennsylania. meanwhile, georgia's top election official says the state will conduct a recount of all paper ballots cast in the election — because the margin is so close. but he says there is no sign of widespread fraud. our north america correspondent, lebo diseko, has more on this recount and biden‘s appointment of ron klain as the white

house chief of staff. yes, very interesting disappointment of his long time trusted aide ron klain. he served as his chief of staff when he was vice president. also for al gore as well during the clinton administration so he comes with lots of experience in washington but also he was appointed to lead president obama's response to the ebola crisis a few years ago. and so that experience in terms of public health is something that will be very useful at the moment, certainly. interestingly, he went viral a couple times during the campaign, standing in front of a white board essentially lecturing donald trump on what you should be doing differently in terms of the coronavirus and saying what joe biden would do better. we'll a chance to see whether that plays out. president trump still making all kinds of assertions about fraud and the recount without producing any meaningful evidence. particularly on the

georgia recount. you have first—hand experience of the accounts. yes, there are a couple of things. donald trump has been quite quiet all day. we have not heard much from him apart from twitter and he tweeted not long ago complaining about the way the votes were conducted in michigan and pennsylvania, complaining that republicans had not been allowed access watch the vote. i was in detroit in michigan and i spoke from twitter and he tweeted not long ago complaining about the way the votes were conducted in michigan and pennsylvania, complaining that republicans had not been allowed access watch the vote. i was in detroit in michigan and i spoke with an election official told me that they have a set number of people from each party that are allowed in the room at any time to watch the vote and they

realise that they had more than the set amount of people at a particular time. they asked people to leave and that is when it really descended into quite shocking scenes, really. people banging on the windows demanding to be let in. in pennsylvania there is a separate issue which is to do with how far they were allowed to be from people countingand whether or not they were able to see. that is something that has gone to that state's supreme court. in georgia that is an automatic recount because of how close that margin is there. it has triggered an automatic recount but it has been counted by hand which is above and beyond what they have to do, really. and the secretary of state there who is essentially a top official in charge of the election is a republican, but he has coming for a lot of criticism from his own party, the two incumbent senators there are republicans and they have been calling for him to resign over the way the election has been handled, and he has been say not only does he think the election was done fairly and that there was no foul play at hand but he also does not think this recount will amount to much. we know that recounts only change things by about a hundred votes or so in either direction so,

yeah, we will have to wait and see how that turns out. there's been international criticism of china after pro—democracy lawmakers in hong kong resigned en masse from the legislative council. the mass resignations came after 4 of their colleagues were expelled for backing independence. earlier, beijing had granted the hong kong authorities new security powers, to quell dissent. john sudworth reports from beijing. it was a slow walk out of parliament and a sign ofjust how swiftly china has moved to quell hong kong's pro—democracy movement. four politicians, who had spoken in favour of us sanctions on hong kong, disqualified within minutes of the announcement from beijing. last year's mass protests, fuelled by fears that china was undermining hong kong's freedoms, have been stopped by a sweeping national security law, but few would have imagined that parliamentary opposition would be targeted too, by new powers handed to the city's pro—beijing leader.

translation: from now on, every lawmaker must support the basic law of hong kong and be loyal to the people's republic of china, in order to build a political system dominated by patriots. in protest, the remaining pro—democracy lawmakers announced that they were all resigning, leaving hong kong's leaders without any effective opposition at all. this act of resignation is not just in protest against beijing's rule of...rule by decree — it's no longer rule of law. it's not even rule by law, it's rule by decree. hong kong's fractious parliament was not always a model of democracy but it was one of the few spaces left for dissent. now it's gone, too.

let's get some of the day's other news. thirty—year—old british nurse lucy letby has been charged with murdering eight babies, and the attempted murder of another 10 at the countess of chester hospital. ms letby was previously arrested in 2018 and 2019 as part of a probe into deaths at the neo—natal unit. she's due to appear before warrington magistrates‘ court on thursday. the former leader of bolivia, evo morales, has returned home from exile, a day after a member of his socialist party was sworn in as the new president. mr morales was bolivia's first indigenous president and left the country a year ago after losing support of the army following a disputed election. tropical storm eta has spun towards the west coast of florida. the strong winds and flooding has prompted the state's governor to declare a state of emergency in 13 counties. around 200 people have died or are missing after eta hit central america. the us is seeing a surge in coronavirus. currently an average of over

900 people a day are now dying with the disease. more than a million new cases in november pushed the total confirmed cases to over 10 million nationally withjust under 240,000 deaths so far. experts warn hospitals across the country could soon be overwhelmed. here's dr. davis, she's an infectious disease physician at the washington university school of medicine. this is devastating at a really bad point and we have not seen the worst yet. we have reached over the 240,000 deaths. com pletely u na cce pta ble for a country with this much capacity. with the flu season here and the cold and people coming indoors this will only unless we put in some very dire measures soon.

do you see the chance of those measures been put in place under this administration or soon enough under a new administration? the issue here is we are operating a power vacuum. we have just finished a very contentious election. and the white house is yet to address is regard us to the pandemic although president—elect biden and vice president elect harris‘s coronavirus task force is refreshing for those of us in the medical and public health arena, they are limited in what they can do untiljanuary 20 so it is up to the country to band together and put in place preventative measures until we can get to why they received vaccine which we won't see into the middle of next year for most people. or more therapeutics that can help. the bigger issue here, though, is hospitals are already reaching capacity and with that issue

and with limited resources by way of ppe in small rural hospitals and private hospitals we really are in for some trouble here. i know you do research into marginalised communities. i think you have concerns, too, but how they may respond to even hope of the vaccine. absolutely. what we saw is that black and brown and what i mean there are, black, latino, native american, they have been disproportionately affected here and they have mistrust that has meant that we cannot represent them adequately in vaccine trials but more troublesome to me from the beginning and especially now that is what is a plan look like, that includes them and makes them feel confident in taking a vaccine? the preliminary numbers are quite hopeful. i don't really want to hang my hat on that until the data has been made available to external advisory boards to review.

however, without a plan that again addresses this long—term mistrust that has already seen them underrepresented in trials, i fear that we will have trouble adequately getting them this vaccine. the uk has become the first country in europe — and the fifth in the world — to record more than 50 thousand deaths because of coronavirus. here's the bbc‘s health editor hugh pym. that figure ofjust over 50,000 is those who've died within 28 days of having a positive test. there is a broader definition covering others who may not have had a test at all, but where covid is listed on their death certificate. and that figure for the uk is now above 61,000. what's the international comparison relative to population? well, the uk is pretty high amongst leading economies. belgium, spain, and brazil have a higher death toll relative to population,

but the uk is ahead of the us and france, and well ahead of germany. of course, each country does measure these things in slightly different ways, so we will have to wait a bit longerfor what's called excess deaths — that's everything over and above a long—term average. now, case numbers and new hospital admissions, if you look at those charts, they do appear to be flattening a little bit. deaths are a so—called lagging indicator, reflecting infections picked up a couple weeks ago. and health officials do say this death figure could rise for a couple more weeks. stay with us on bbc world news, still to come: a setback for britney spears after a court rejects the singer's bid to retake control of her affairs from her father.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines:

us president—electjoe biden names a key appointee to his administration — longtime aide ron klain will serve as white house chief of staff. the regional government in ethiopia's northern tigray region has issued a decree ordering the total mobilisation of its people. state television said the authorities had ordered the population to defend itself against what it described as the flagrant aggression of the federal government. hundreds of fighters from both sides are reported to have been killed during a week of clashes between regional forces and federal troops. the bbc‘s reporter has the latest from addis ababa. 550, that's a number provided by the federal authorities here in addis ababa, as the number of fighters they say they killed when they were fighting on the side of the tigran people's liberation front.

this number, needless to say, was not independently verified. but it comes as various reports indicate there have been hundreds of casualties from both sides. yesterday, the federal police here in the capital said that they have arrested 17 military personnel, including top officials, because they accused them of colluding with the tplf when the northern command located in tigray was allegedly attacked. but these are not the only arrests that we are hearing. there are at least six journalists currently in detention and who are being investigated for various crimes. different rights groups have expressed their concerns over their arrest. this conflict, that's showing no sign of waning, is already impacting neighbouring countries. there are reports indicating there is an influx of refugees that are crossing the border to the sudanese territory. more refugees are expected as the conflict continues. authorities at the central government here say that they are going to end the military operation only when perpetrators

that they accuse of attempting to destabilize the country face justice. but many are not sure how soon that's going to happen. kalkidan yibeltal, bbc news, addis ababa. thousands of people have taken to the streets of the armenian capital, yerevan, to protest against a deal to end the fighting in the disputed region of nagorno—karabakh. the deal, brokered by russia, has been celebrated by neighbouring azerbaijan as a victory. but the agreement is deeply unpopular in armenia. steve rosenberg has this report from yerevan. wailing. at a military cemetery in yerevan, there are so many families grieving. so many fresh graves. burning incense — the armenian way of sending prayers to heaven. the sense of loss here is made more acute by defeat.

this family lost a son recently in kara bakh. they're angry with russia for not backing armenia against azerbaijan. "president putin," he says, "has betrayed all christian people." his wife blames defeat on armenia's own leaders. "for years," she says, "they've been selling us out, selling our land with the blood of our sons. they'll pay. the parents of the dead will gouge out their eyes." "go away," she shouts. "traitor," they say. they're talking about armenia's prime minister, nikol pashinyan. these protesters believe that by ceding territory

to azerbaijan in and around karabakh, mr pashinyan has betrayed them. we are here to demand the prime minister, nikol pashinyan, to resign. only one person decided to give land. but this land is not his land. it is our nation's land. in hiding since the peace deal, mr pashinyan used social media to argue he had no choice but to sue for peace. but few here are convinced. for weeks, the message from the government to the people was, "armenia can never be defeated." but with this peace deal, armenia has lost this war. and that has left the nation feeling shocked and angry. meanwhile, armenians continue to mourn. the human cost of this war has been huge. the sense of loss almost too much to bear. steve rosenberg, bbc news, yerevan. peru's new interim president manuel merino has announced his pick to lead

a new cabinet. the former president was impeached over bribery allegations. but protestors furious at the impeachment are still marching on the streets of the capital lima, despite appeals for calm. mark lobel‘s report does include some flashing images, from the start. further unrest on the streets of lima. hours after the swearing in of a new president these protesters think will damage their country. police have fired tear gas and arrested people. translation: they have damaged private property and continue to come. we have to disperse them. the politicians call for unity, currently up in flames. the row flared up after monday's impeachment of former president martin vizcarra on bribery allegations, prompting his removal from office. protesters are unhappy at this change, with elections months away, with the country in the midst of a coronavirus

crisis, and with economic policies to usher in as the country battles a recession. moments after the vote, and on live television, one protester had this message for a politician who backed vizcarro's removal. protesters sense a coup, as an interim government is swiftly ushered in. the interim president, this man, manuel merino, has been sworn in. the speaker of congress, this businessman, a member of the centre right action party, is peru's third president in four years. seeking stability, he's chosen an experienced former defence minister, who was sworn in on wednesday to lead his cabinet. translation: public security, peace, a health crisis, economic challenges, finding people work — those are the challenges. also, there were april's elections, when we need to hand over power to

whoever is elected. the new prime minister also appealed for protesters to calm down, to help the government get out of the crisis. but with a nationwide protest called for thursday evening, there may be a stormy few days ahead. mark lobel, bbc news. a court in the us has rejected singer britney spears‘ attempt to have her father removed as controller of her estate. a judge did say however that she would consider future appeals for his dismissal or outright removal. rachel stanton reports. an international superstar known for chart—topping hits and she was a teenager, britney spears is now back in the headlines after a us court rejected her appeal to have a father removed as conservator of her estate. since 2008 her

fatherjamie has of her estate. since 2008 her father jamie has been of her estate. since 2008 her fatherjamie has been her legal guardian due to concerns about her mental health. he has been in charge of her money. the legal battle is taking place against a backdrop of the free britney movement, a group of fa ns britney movement, a group of fans who believe the star is being kept prisoner by her father and others. britney's lawyer told the court... meanwhile, the lawyer forjamie spears said thejudge meanwhile, the lawyer forjamie spears said the judge said she would considerfuture spears said the judge said she would consider future appeals for his dismissal or outright removal. in the meantime a financial company has been appointed as a co—conservator but for now it is not enough to stop the frustration of her funds. stop the frustration of herfunds. i'm joined now byjem aswad,

senior music editor at variety. good to talk to you. we have seen good to talk to you. we have seen quite a few people concerned about this and we have seen evidence of the free britney movement. what is really going on here, do you think? welcomer mental health is probably the least specific science that exists. but you have to think that, if britney's lawyer said she was afraid of her father and that this was not mentioned earlier, that he had appointed a new business managerfor that he had appointed a new business manager for her without telling her, among the other allegations that were made, the other claims that we re made, the other claims that were made, they still decided not to remove him as her conservative then her lawyer failed to make a strong enough case “— failed to make a strong enough case —— as her conservator. it is just case —— as her conservator. it isjust for case —— as her conservator. it is just for the case —— as her conservator. it isjust for the time case —— as her conservator. it is just for the time being but for the time being as been going on for 12 years. we are

told she is not speaking to her father she will not perform as long as the situation goes on but there can be further hearings to try to resolve this. yes, exactly. and things between her and her father this. yes, exactly. and things between her and herfather had been contentious for several yea rs been contentious for several years as her fans certainly have not failed to note and also she said earlier this year she was not going to perform. so things have not really changed but apparently her attorneys have not presented enough compelling reasons for things to change. she is 38 yea rs old things to change. she is 38 years old and yet we are told she has not been shown legally to be confident. is it clear what competent would involve? whatever it is she is not meeting those standards. now, with american civil liberties, conservator ships and things like that, having people committed are only instituted if someone is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others. they are harder to get out of once you are in them but 12

yea rs once you are in them but 12 years is a very long time, you know. you would have to assume that whatever medication she is on and whatever her mental state is, it is not convincing judges that she can take care of herself. she has a family of course and that can be pretty busy. do we know she is making music at all, she recording? not to my knowledge. she makes music sporadically and if you have seen her speaking at all, you know, she is not super engaged. and a lot of the video she has been posting on instagram and elsewhere, there area instagram and elsewhere, there are a little strange. nothing to concern anyone but not the sort of thing where if someone is under conservator shipp that someone is going to say, look, they are fine. thank you very much. an extremely rare purple—pink russian diamond has sold at auction in switzerland for $26.6 million.

the 14.8—carat diamond, called ‘the spirit of the rose', is the largest of its kind to be auctioned, as almost all pink diamonds are under 10 carats. hello there. the weather will quieten down for a day or so before it turns more unsettled as we move towards the end of the week and the weekend. but today's dry and settled weather is thanks to a ridge of high pressure. but it won't last long as cloud and showers start to push into western areas. now that's the overnight wind and rain clearing away from the east coast. this ridge of high pressure settles things down briefly before the next low pressure moves into the west of the uk through the afternoon. so we could have a hang back of clouds and showers for a time across the east, hanging around shetland pretty much all day. and much of the country is dry with plenty of sunshine around, but you'll see the clouds thickening up out west. outbreaks of rain pushing in here, more prolonged rain pushing in for western scotland by the end of the day, along with the strengthening winds.

temperatures down on what we had yesterday, 10—13 celsius. now it's dry for much of central and eastern parts of the country as we head through the course of the night, but this band of rain, some of it heavy, and strong winds slowly pushing eastwards followed by some blustery showers. very windy conditions across the northwest of scotland, but a pretty blustery night for most areas. those temperatures generally in single figures — high single figures, mind you, we could see 9—10 celsius across the south of england. so this is the pressure chart for friday, low pressure to the north west of the uk, lots of isobars in the northwest, so very windy here. but it will still be quite gusty with this band of rain lying through central parts of the country for friday morning. that should eventually clear way to the north sea, and skies will brighten up for most of the afternoon. but there'll be lots of showers rattling into northern and western areas — some of these will be heavy and quite frequent with rumbles of thunder across the northwest of scotland.

those temperatures 10—13 celsius, and with the wind it will feel on the cool side, despite it being fairly mild. the low pressure really dominates the scene as we head to the weekend. you can see lots isobars on the chart, particularly across the south of the country, and plenty of weather fronts indicating some rain. after the last few cool days, it looks like it'll turn milder again into the weekend, particularly on saturday. something slightly cooler pushing in from west as we head through sunday, especially across the north of the uk. so a pretty wild weekend in store, some heavy rain around, strong winds, gales across the south coast. very mild for a time on saturday, feeling a little 00:28:31,633 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 bit fresher on sunday.