this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm lewis vaughan jones. barack obama has accused senior us republicans of undermining democracy after president trump refused to concede the election. it is one more step in delegitimising not just it is one more step in delegitimising notjust the incoming biden administration but democracy generally. china condemns the mass resignation of opposition politicians in hong kong. britain says new rules disqualifying lawmakers violate the treaty between the two countries. the world health organisation warns of an explosion of covid cases in europe, with a daily record set in the uk.

in nagorno—karabakh, the ethnic armenians burning their own houses down to prevent them falling into the hands of their enemies. hello and welcome. barack obama has accused senior us republicans of undermining democracy, by going along with president trump's refusal to admit that he's lost last week's election. the comments in a cbs interview are the first by the former president since the poll, which was won by his former vice—president, joe biden. they appear to be motivated in pa rt they appear to be motivated in part because the president doesn't like to lose and never admitsa doesn't like to lose and never admits a loss. i more troubled by the fact that other

republican officials, who clearly know better, are going along with this, are humouring him in this fashion. it is one more step in delegitimising, not just the more step in delegitimising, notjust the incoming biden administration but democracy in general. and that is a dangerous path. meanwhile a group of independent leaders founded by nelson mandela have seen enough. the elders — as they're known — say mr trump is undermining democracy around the world. here's their chair, the former president of ireland, mary robinson. the tragedy is that the united states has always been the supporter, a strong advocate for democracy and for adherence to the will of the people. when the votes are counted, you accept that. and so, we do see it as being serious for the united states in the short term but also very worrying internationally because it is obviously something that

autocrats and bad leaders are rejoicing in. they arejust laughing. they are saying, who talks about democracy? look at the united states. our correspondent, lebo diseko, joins me from washington. hello lebo. so both of those comments from former world leaders there, essentially saying the same thing that democracy is at stake here in the us? i think it is quite something, lewis, coming from the elders. the group of really the elders. the group of really the world's elder states people saying that this is undermining democracy in the us and how do they go to other countries and say, look, your election wasn't free, wasn't fair. you have undermined the democratic process. how is it going to lead us in other parts of the world and say look, it is time for you to go. i think it is quite telling that barack obama also, echoing those types of comments, this is his first interview since the election and saying that this is undermining democracy. and what

about the fact that, let's go into specifics, about what barack obama into specifics, about what ba rack obama was into specifics, about what barack obama was saying there. he said, listen, trump's trump but what he's really disappointed is others' leading republicans who, in those words, they know better. they know that the republicans and donald trump lost this election. they are going on with it, humouring him. where are we now if republicans publicly at least declaring who wa nt publicly at least declaring who want this election? i suppose the calculation that a lot of republicans are making is that donald trump is still incredibly popular. he got the second most votes of an electoral candidate ever. we know also that he is not one that forgives or forgets and can really relish his supporters and mobilise them if he doesn't like how someone has behaved. there is a senate run—off coming up in georgia. that is really important. however hold onto it, the

senate, can essentially control the way legislation laws or bills go through in terms of joe biden‘s term. so that is a big consideration for them. also the midterms are coming up ina also the midterms are coming up in a couple of years. we are barely through the selection but that will be on their mind as well. the senate is certainly where a lot of power lies and that is something that they will be considering. in terms of where we are, there was a group of several republicans came out today and said look, joe biden really should be given access to those security briefings he supposed to be getting. donald trump has blocked that for the moment. they have stopped short of saying that they should recognise that donald trump lost the election. i'm thinking particularly of lindsey graham who is an ally of donald trump. on the one hand saying thatjoe biden should get these briefings and on the other saying that donald trump needs to fight on. thank you lebo. china has condemned the mass

resignation of pro—democracy lawmakers in hong kong as a blatant challenge to its authority. the resignations were triggered, by the expulsion of four other lawmakers, under new rules imposed by beijing. for the first time since the handover, the legislative council is now without any effective opposition. the us has warned it will impose further sanctions against china, with national security adviser robert o'brien accusing beijing of flagrantly violating its international commitments. our china correspondent stephen mcdonell reports from beijing. there were some final acts of defiance on their last day inside hong kong's mini parliament. the entire pro—democracy block tendered their resignations in protest of the dismissal of four of their colleagues. the communist party leadership has now empowered the city government to dismiss any opposition politician and will if

they're deemed to show insufficient loyalty. for many, the autonomy hong kong's promised for decades to come has now all but disappeared. power in hong kong is all rested. in the chief executive hands, the chief executive in hong kong, is taking orders coming from the central government. so today and today thereafter is the end of the one country system. internationally, the move has been condemned as a clear sign that freedoms in hong kong have been eroded at an alarming rate. britain's foreign secretary dominic raab said the new rules allowing hong kong's chief executive to sack her political opponents were a clear breach of the sino british joint declaration. however, beijing has

warned other countries not to interfere in china's affairs. we urge the relevant individuals to abide by the international law and international relations and stop in any way interfering in china's internal affairs, including hong kong affairs. any of the attempts to pressure china or undermine china's sovereignty, security and development of interests will not succeed. from tomorrow, for the first time since hong kong was returned to china, its legislative council will be without any effective opposition. it's unclear whether it will ever have one again. the most crucial thing here hasn't really been the dismissal of the four legislators accused of showing insufficient loyalty to the motherland, or even a mass walk—out by the entire pro—democracy block, but rather a permanent change to the rules which from now on means that the communist party's surrogates can remove any undesirable opposition

politician, even though they, unlike the city's leader, have been directly elected by the people. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. let's bring you the latest updates with the coronavirus. the world health organization has warned the world saying "we may be tired of covid—i9 but it is not tired of us". europe has seen an explosion of cases and the us has added a million new cases injust ten days. for a second day in a row, there's been a record number of new cases in there, more than 142,000. the uk also had a record rise, with 33,470 new infections and a second day where deaths exceeded 500. and daily numbers continue to surge in france, which has now recorded nearly 1.9 million confirmed cases of covid—i9.

and cases of people in hospital is now at an all—time crisis. last week, between 400 and 500 people died every day from covid. this means that today in france, one death out of four is because of clothes. we have also seen the last few days, when hospitalisation every 30 seconds, and wind admission into intensive care every three minutes. a senior volkswagen executive has continued its company's decision to continue operating a car park in a region in china underfierce a car park in a region in china under fierce scrutiny because of its treatment of weaker ethnic minority. mounting international concerns led to some international companies to cut ties with the region but volkswagen has told the bbc there are so far no evidence that any of our employees have been through the camps.

volkswagen makes more than four million cars a year in china. its many factories here now a vital part of its global success story. except for one. opened seven years ago in xinjiang, this plant has found itself at the centre of a major controversy. sharing the vast desert landscape with a network of detention camps that china has built in recent years. images said to show the mass incarceration of xinjiang's uighurs and other minorities, and their mass transport, have helped make this one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. and now vw is having to defend itself. we know about the allegation and it certainly very much concerns us, and we have

checked whether any of our supply chains are affected or any of our people are affected, and so far we haven't found evidence. can you be absolutely certain that none of your employees in that xinjiang plant has been through a camp? i would say no company could ever make sure. the only thing that we do, we apply the procedures. if you can't be sure, shouldn't you just not be there? i'm not sure. i guess we have a footprint all over the world in different countries. the situation is not always how we would like to have it in volkswagen. but xinjiang is not just any other place, and the re—education camps and work camps, however much they are denied by china, raise tough questions for a company founded by the nazis and one which relied heavily on forced labour during the war. one prominent german politician described your company as a company without a conscience, complicit in upholding a totalitarian hell in xinjiang.

with comments like that, isn't it time to close that plant and leave? i would say leaving a plant is a serious decision and i guess our history here also in china has proven that for the benefit of people and the society, not only for the benefit of the company, we can mutually develop. and whatever the reputational damage from keeping the plant, volkswagen knows there would be a cost to closing it too — the anger of a government on which it is now so dependent. john sudworth, bbc news, beijing. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: thousands of ethnic armenians flee areas of nagorno—karabakh — we have a special report.

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 local 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 for so, 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 who'd long felt only grudgingly accepted among the ranks of clergy, suddenly felt welcome.

this is bbc news, the latest headlines: ba rak obama criticises senior republicans after president trump still refuses to concede the presidential election. thousands of ethnic armenians are fleeing areas of nagorno—karabakh that will be handed over to azerbaijan, as part of the recent peace deal. there've been six weeks of violent clashes in the region which is internationally recognised as azerbaijan's but has been run by ethnic armenians. some armenians have resorted to burning down their own homes rather than see it in the hands of their enemies. from nagorno—karabakh, steve rosenberg reports. in nagorno—karabakh, the exodus has begun. ethnic armenians are rushing to leave before much of this area is handed to azerbaijan.

for these armenian soldiers, defeat is hard to swallow, everyone has lost comrade, everyone has lost but for these young men there is relief, too, that the war is over. translation: if this war had continued we would have all been killed. azerbaijan has more money, weapons, and military equipment than us. armenia was given less than a week to vacate this land. this man is packing up and taking absolutely everything with him. he is stripping the house bare. he's even removed all the windows. translation: i feel so much pain, you cannot imagine. i do not know when to go. i have seven children but i have no

home. nearby, silent prayers in an armenian monastery, but within days, azerbaijan will control the town. the ancient monastery in dadivank is proof, say people here, that this land was and is armenian. but history is complicated in the caucasus. only 30 years ago dadivank was part of azerbaijan, until armenian forces captured it. and if they must leave now, some armenians are leaving nothing behind. this family are destroying their home, so that no azerbaijani can move into it. translation: i built this house from scratch. i can't leave it to anyone. we've taken whatever we can and now i'm just going to burn it. if my children can't use this house, then no—one can. there is nothing these people can do about this peace agreement. there is nothing they can do

about losing this land. the only thing they can do is make sure they leave nothing behind for azerbaijan. a peace agreement may have ended war but the hatred keeps burning. steve rosenberg, dadivank, bbc news. amnesty international says that it has evidence that hundreds of been called in a massacre in the tigray region, which comes between a conflict between the federal army and aid forces. they said they were either stabbed or hacked to death on monday night. is this ethiopia on the cusp of civil war? these are federal forces in the northern region of tigray. a bitter fallout between the national government and leaders of this region descended into confrontation. this is this is humera airport.

federal forces say they've cut it from the regional tigray people's liberation front, which led ethiopia for nearly three decades. talks have been called for, but the national government says it's past that point. translation: we have come here with high morale since we heard about this. we are determined that this force has to either surrender or be destroyed, whatever it is. italy's known about the welfare of civilians in tigray. phone lines, internet and bunking have been cut off. aid agencies say the situation is dire. we definitely need to have food, fuel and other basic commodities brought into the region because they're running low already of sugar, oil and all the basic needs, including banking services. there's no cash.

the northern region of tigray is home to over five million people. the region's leaders have ordered them to mobilise to defend themselves in a report on tigray state media. thousands of civilians are fleeing across the border into sudan. many are yet to receive any help. we are very concerned that with the continuing attacks, military attacks and the fighting, no persons may flee, including refugees who are in the camps, and other members of the population. in the capital of addis ababa, hundreds turn up to donate blood for the army, a stark reminder of how bad things could be on the war front. but even here, opinion about the fighting is mixed. translation: our defence force is the flame bearer and guardian of our nation. i'm so proud that our people come

here en masse to donate their blood for our military. i believe this shows our unity. translation: waging war at this time is not proper. war has no benefit for us. it hurts our economy, our country. we need to work together to develop our country rather than going to war. when there is a war, industries will be damaged and the people who will die would have contributed a lot to the country. pro—government militia are seen here travelling north to fight alongside national forces. there are fears this could morph into full civil war — a standoff between ethiopia's former and current rulers threatens to push the country to the brink. anne soy, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. peru's interim president, manuel merino, has called for calm during the swearing—in of his new cabinet as protests escalate around the country since the abrupt ousting

of former leader martin vizcarra. for days, hundreds of residents have protested the congress vote, with dozens of demonstrators detained after clashes with police, who at times used tear gas. the former president of ghana, jerry rawlings, has died at the age of 73. flight lieutenant rawlings twice seized power in military coups, and executed three of his predecessors. he went on to win two elections as he oversaw ghana's transition to stable multi—party democracy. barcelona is planning a major expansion of low—traffic zones, giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists to reduce pollution and provide green spaces. the work is part of a 10—year plan, the idea being that no resident in the district will be more than 200 metres from a green space. rescues are under way in north

carolina, following floods at a campground in taylorville. that is according to county officials. it is understood that dominic cummings is expected to leave the government by the end of the year. he told the bbc tonight that his "position hasn't changed since my january blog" when he said that he wanted to make himself largely redundant by the end of the 2020. this them to be a bit of a power struggle behind the doors of number 10 power struggle behind the doors of numberio and power struggle behind the doors of number 10 and then you had the announcement that the director of communications lee cain would be leaving downing street at the end of the year. lee cain, a close ally of dominic cummings and while he is an important figure in downing street, dominic cummings is an important and centralfigure in downing street. the prime minister's cheap aid, a man who really

does have the ear of boris johnson. there was huge controversy at the earlier in the year when dominic cummings travelled from county durham during lockdown and boris johnson refused to ask him to step down. there has been a lot of speculation over the future of speculation over the future of dominic cummings since this event and he has been speaking to our political editor tonight and asked about the rumours that he would be leaving number 10 by christmas. said in his blog that he planned to make himself redundant by the end of 2020 and a senior downing street sources said that he will be out of government by christmas. why this is important, a couple of big picture things, there is clearly been right a lot of turbulence in downing street over who gets whatjob and who

has the ear of the prime minister and it is a government trying to tackle the pandemic on the other thing as well that lee cain and dominic cummings both worked on the vote leave set campaign along with boris johnson, forged in the fire together and are seen as two people with quite combative style is an influential and the way that downing street is run. if both of them leave at the end of the year it means major changing of the guard in the heart of government and a possible significant change of approach as well. turkmenistan's president has bestowed his favourite breed of dog with the highest honour — a golden statue. situated on a busy roundabout in the capital, ashgabat, the 6m canine was unveiled to a socially distanced celebration of music, dancing and balloons. the alabay — a central asian shepherd dog —

is so beloved by the president that he gifted russia's president, vladimir putin, with a puppy in 2017. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ l vaughanjones hello there. today's weather's not looking that bad once we lose the early morning rain across england and wales. we'll have plenty of sunshine into the afternoon, but there will be some blustery heavy showers blowing into mainly scotland and northern ireland. now, we've had this cold front spreading eastwards across the country during the overnight period. ahead of it, it's quite windy, mild and cloudy. behind it, sunshine will appear, slightly cooler air and lots of showers from the word go across the north—west. that rain, some of it heavy, will continue to journey eastwards this morning across eastern england, eventually clearing by around lunchtime. and then it's dry and bright for most areas, but there'll be plenty of showers

across the north and the west. some of these will be heavy and thundery. temperatures, it will feel cooler in the north. as we head through the overnight period, it looks like it will stay dry but then the next area of low pressure swee ps but then the next area of low pressure sweeps in from the atla ntic pressure sweeps in from the atlantic bringing cloud and wind and rain getting heavier across southern and western areas, the air getting into the south of the country by the end of the night but most were in single digits. into the weekend, it will stay unsettled because we will have low pressure nearby, windy with gales and heavy rain in places as well. low pressure will be moving in across the country for saturday, many isoba rs moving in across the country for saturday, many isobars on the charts and it will be largely cloudy almost, outbreaks of rain at times but not raining all the time and going to be windy with gales around the irish seacoast and

south coast. up to 50 mph. a mild day to come, up to 16 degrees in england and wales and 10—12 further north. further rain saturday night into sunday and they purchased it with us, a squeeze in the isobars across southern britain and lots of weather fronts indicating outbreaks of rain. gales up to 60 mph through the day causing disruption and spells and showers and longest of the rain in places but some sunshine around as well. not a com plete sunshine around as well. not a complete washout. qualitative come on sunday, the highest 10— 14 degrees. —— sunshine to come on sunday.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: former president barack obama joins other democrats in lambasting senior republicans. many senior republicans have backed mr trump's position. hong kong's opposition has walked out of the legislature after four colleagues were expelled. britain says china has clearly breached its joint declaration. beijing has labelled the mass resignation as a challenge to its authority. boris johnson's most senior aide, dominic cummings, is set to leave downing street at the end of the year. it follows the departure of the british prime minister's director of communications earlier this week. amnesty international says it has evidence that scores and possibly hundreds of civilians have been killed in what it calls a massacre in ethiopia's tigray region. the government has launched an offensive there against local forces.