welcome to bbc news. our top stories. with president trump still refusing to concede the election, barack obama accuses senior us republicans of undermining democracy. it's one more step in delegitimising, notjust the incoming biden administration, but democracy in general. 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 migrant crisis continues. 70 people drown off the coast in libya.

in nagorno—karabakh, the ethnic armenians burning their own houses done to prevent them from falling into the hands of their enemies. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. barack obama has accused senior us republicans of undermining democracy, by going along with president trump's refusal to admit he lost last week's election. the comments in a cbs interview are the first by the former president since the vote, which was won by his former vice—president, joe biden. they appear to be motivated in part because the president doesn't like to lose and never admits a loss. i'm 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, notjust the incoming biden administration, but democracy in general. and that is a dangerous path. meanwhile a group of respected 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 explained the impact of these statements.” think it is quite something, coming from the elders, the world's eldest states people saying that this has undermined democracy in the us and how does the us go to other countries and say look, your election wasn't free, wasn't fair, you have undermined the democratic process, how does it go to leaders and other parts of the world and say look, it is time for you to go, so 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 really this is undermining democracy. and what about the fact, let's go into specifically what barack obama go into specifically what ba rack obama was go into specifically what barack obama was saying there. he was saying, trump's trumpet,

but what he is really disappointed in as those leading republicans who, in his words was, they know better. they know that the republicans and donald trump lost the selection but they are going on and humouring him. where are they now with republicans, publicly at least, declaring who won the selection?” suppose there is 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 rarely mobilise his supporters if he doesn't like how someone has behaved. there isa how someone has behaved. there is a senate run—off coming up in georgia, that is really important, whoever holds onto the senate essentially is in control of the way that legislation laws or bills go through in terms ofjoe biden‘s

term. so that is a big consideration for them, also the midterms are coming up in a couple of years, i'd know we are barely through the selection but that will be on their minds as well. the senate is where a lot of power lies and that is something they will be considering. in terms of where we are, there was a group of several republicans who have come out today and said look, reallyjoe biden should be given access to these security briefings that he is 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 critically of lindsey graham who is an ally of donald trump, on the one hand saying thatjoe biden should get these briefings. on the other hand saying that donald trump needs to fight on. 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's hands. the chief executive in hong kong is taking orders coming from the central government. and we all know that because of the constitutional 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. translation: 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 the 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. the world health organisation

issued a warning saying: ‘we may be tired of covid i9 — but it is not tired of us‘. many countries are in their second wave of infections and are seeing the number of hospitalisations or new cases reaching figures not seen since the start of the pandemic. in some countries the outbreak appears to be worse than its ever been. the us has seen a record number of new cases in a single 2a hour period, with more than 142,000 people being diagnosed with the uk, there's been a record rise, with 3,470 new infections and the second day since may where deaths exceeded while cases are dropping in france, the number of people in hospital is now at an all time high of 32,638. the french prime minister outlined the severity of the crisis there. translation: 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 covid. we have also seen the last few days, one hospitalisation every 30 seconds, and one admission into intensive care every three minutes. more than 70 people have drowned off the coast of khums in libya on thursday in the latest disaster to strike migrants trying to reach europe by sea. there were children among more than 120 boat passengers. 47 survivors have been brought ashore. mark lobel reports. survivors of a dejected, exhausted, and get on an all—too—familiar theme, these migrants are the lucky ones. they may have failed in recent attempt to reach europe, some reportedly from nigeria, the gambia and burkina faso, now back on sand, but they have escaped with their lives. they

are now receiving the basics in the middle of a pandemic. having been rescued out at sea and brought to khums by the coastguard and local fishermen who weren't able to help at least 70 others including children who drowned in what the international organisation for migration said was the ninth shipwreck since the beginning of october in the central mediterranean. a problem, they say, currently suffering from an unworkable approach to tackling it. there needs to be a shift in the approach to the situation and to migration management. this means redeploying search and rescue capacity and vessels from states, lifting all of the restrictions on the work of ngos that are operating in the deadliest sea crossing in the world. the international organisation for migration says at least 900 people have drowned on this route this year. another 11,000 have returned to libya where, for those who do survive the

shipwreck, the organisation says they face human rights violations, trafficking and exploitation. they are urging a change of approach. establishing a clear, safe and predictable disembarkation mechanism followed by solidarity from other states with countries that are receiving arrivals. libya has had no stable government for almost a decade, although there are hopes current un lead talks would lead to a transitional government and then elections. but right now, both out at sea and on libyan land, it remains and on libyan land, it remains a risky environment for migrants. 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. a statement from officials at the department of homeland security says the november the third election was the most secure in american history. senior us officials responded... 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 them 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, 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. let's get some of the day's other news.

a typhoon has killed many people in the philippines. because widespread flooding, downed trees and power lines. search—and—rescue downed trees and power lines. sea rch—and—rescue operations are ongoing to to save people. mexico is fighting. local people accuse authorities are providing no support to storm victims. 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. but he went on to win two elections as he oversaw ghana's transition to stable multi—party democracy. the prosecutors' office in peru has requested that the former president, martin vizcarra, be banned from leaving the country for the next eighteen months, following his impeachment over corruption allegations. the outcome of the vote has led to protests from his supporters, who clashed with riot police outside the congress building on wednesday.

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. this comes as a conflict between the federal army and tigrayan forces has entered a second week. the aid agency says the victims were stabbed or hacked to death in mai—kadra town on monday night. anne soy reports. 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 humera airport. federal forces say they've captured 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 banking 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, more 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 flagbearer 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 nationalforces. 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. a senior volkswagen executive has defended the compa ny‘s decision to continue operating a car plant in xinjiang — a region of china underfierce scrutiny due to the treatment of the uighur ethnic minority there. mounting international concern has led some multinational companies to cut ties with the region. but volkswagen has told the bbc that there is so far no evidence that any of their employees have been through the detention camps, as our china correspondent john sudworth reports.

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. it's understood the uk prime minister's senior aid, dominic cummings, is expected to leave the government by the end of the year. it follows the departure of borisjohnson‘s director of communications earlier this week. mr cummings told the bbc that his position hasn't changed since the start of the year, when he wrote that he wanted to make himself ‘largely redundant‘ by the end of the 2020.

that‘s it, get me on twitter at any time. i am lewis vaughan—jones and this is bbc news. goodbye. hello there. today is shaping up to be not too bad a day. we should see a bit of sunshine around once we lose the morning rain. the band of rain has been spending its way east slowly during overnight. and followed by blustery showers which will be running into scotland and northern ireland. so this is the rain i‘m talking about, lying on the cold front, fresh air behind it, it will be working its way eastwards and ahead of it, cloudy, breezy and mild. there will be lots of showers across the north—west from the word go. sunshine behind this rain band, continuing to journey eastwards through this morning, eventually clearing the south—east by around lunchtime. then, a bright afternoon for most but the showers will continue in the north—west, some heavy, perhaps even thundery. blustery day to come

for all, but very windy for the north—west of scotland and winds here touching 50 mph. for the temperatures, it will feel cooler, particularly in the north, 9—11 degrees. 12—14 degrees for the south. as we head through the overnight period, it looks like it will stay dry for a while but then the next area of low pressure sweeps in from the atlantic bringing increasing cloud and wind and rain getting heavier across southern and western areas. signs of milder air getting into the south of the country by the end of the night but most are 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, too. low pressure will be moving in right across the country for saturday, many isoba rs on the charts and it will be largely cloudy for most, outbreaks of fairly heavy rain at times but not raining all the time and going to be windy with gales around the irish sea coast and south coast, up to 50 mph.

a mild day to come, 14—16 degrees in england and wales and 10—12 further north. further rain saturday night into sunday low pressure still with us, a squeeze in the isobars, you‘ll notice there, across southern britain and lots of weather fronts indicating outbreaks of rain. southern britain, gales up to 50—60 mph through the day causing disruption and spells, showers and longer spells of the rain in places but there will be some sunshine around as well. not a complete washout. cooler day on sunday, your highs 10—14 degrees.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: with president trump yet to concede, former president barack obama has severely criticised senior republicans. many in mr trump‘s party have backed the president‘s stance in not yet conceding the election tojoe biden. legal challenges are continuing. hong kong‘s opposition has walked out of the legislature after four colleagues were expelled. britain says china has breached a joint declaration. beijing has labelled the mass resignation as a challenge "to its authority". the french prime minister says there‘s now more coronavirus patients in hospitals than in april, with a new admission every 30 seconds. in the uk there‘s been a 50% jump in cases in the previous 24—hour period 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.