welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. 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. it's official — aung san suu kyi's ruling party wins myanmar‘s general election. in nagorno—karabakh, the ethnic armenians burning their own houses down to prevent them falling into the hands of their enemies.

hello and welcome. president trump's predecessor barack obama has accused senior us republicans of undermining democracy, by humouring mr trump who refuses 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, officials

at the department of homeland security have released a statement which says the november third election was the most secure in american history. the senior officials — who are responsible for the integrity of the presidential election — said, meanwhile a group of respected independent leaders founded by nelson mandela say they've 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 in washington, lebo diseko, explained the impact of these statements by former leaders. i think it is quite something, lewis, coming from the elders. this group of really the world's elder statespeople 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 was saying there. he said, listen, trump's trump but what he's really disappointed about is other leading republicans who, in his words, should 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 aren't declaring who won 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 rally 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. whoever holds onto it, the senate essentially, is really in control of the way 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. we are barely through this election but that will be on their mind as well. the senate is certainly where a lot of power lies and that's something that they will be considering. in terms of where we are, there was a group of several republicans have came out today and said look, joe biden really should be given access to those security briefings he's 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 that joe biden should get these briefings and on the other saying that donald trump needs

to fight on. thank you lebo. onto the pandemic now and the world health organization has 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 covid—i9. in the uk, there's been a record rise, with 33,470 new infections and the second day since may where deaths exceeded 500. and while cases are dropping in france, the number of people in hospital is now at an all time high of 32,683. 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 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 shipwreck. dejected, exhausted, and yet, in this all—too—familiar scene, these migrants are also the lucky ones. they may have failed in their recent attempt to reach europe, some reportedly from nigeria, the gambia and burkina faso, now back on libyan sand, but they have escaped

with their lives. they're now receiving the basics in the middle of a pandemic. having been rescued out at sea and brought to khums by the libyan coastguard and localfishermen, 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 includes 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—led talks could lead to a transitional government and then elections. but right now, both out at sea and on libyan land, it remains a risky environment for migrants. mark lobel, bbc news. a senior volkswagen executive has defended the company'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. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: a golden breed — why the president of turkmenistan has unveiled a 19 foot statue of a dog

in the country's capital. 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 world news. the latest headlines: barack obama criticises senior republicans as president trump continues to refuse to accept he lost the presidential election. it's official — aung san suu kyi's ruling party wins myanmar‘s general election. it means another five years in power. we will stick with that story.

official results from the general election have come through and we now know that her party has won a majority. let's get a bit more on this 110w. let's get a bit more on this now. we can speak to simon adams from the level centre for the responsibility to protect and thank you very much for coming on the programme. so let's start with the programme, back to back wins now and another five years ahead of her. what do you make of the election itself? i mean, it has been a great victory for aung sun suu kyi and obviously i think that will be the story thatis think that will be the story that is in many of the international newspapers and sent around the world but i guess my question as somebody who comes from human rights background and terms of the work that is done by my centre is at war cost because i think it is fairto is at war cost because i think it is fair to say that this election was not free and certainly, it is not democratic when you are systematically disenfranchised, for example, the minority rohingya community

and kind state in the north and also many other areas in the country in chin and chance state and areas of touch in whether electoral commission did not let people from minority populations vote so thatis minority populations vote so that is about 1.5 — 2 million people who did not get a vote simply because they were of a particular ethnic group and we re particular ethnic group and were in the wrong part of the country —— rakhine. i think in some ways, it has been a consolidation of the power of aung san suu kyi but at what cost for democracy in myanmar? let's remind ourselves a little first before we come across in that, —— come upon that, she will be remembered as a hero figure so remind us why that status has fallen. i mean, it has been a remarkable fall from grace. here is somebody who was seen grace. here is somebody who was seen as a grace. here is somebody who was seen as a kind of icon of the democratic movement, somebody who stood up for the human rights of all of her fellow

citizens in miedema under the military dictatorship. and yet of course when she was elected after having, you know, come to some kind of terms with the military after the last election, she has basically presided over a period in which atrocities were perpetrated by me in my‘s military against the ethnic minority miedema people, the rohingya in my state. —— myanmar. when a case was brought against a country at the international court of justice, something which i was very proud to play a small part m, very proud to play a small part in, she literally went to the hague stand in the hague and defend myanmar‘s military against a charge of genocide so i think for many people it is an extraordinary fall, to go from human rights icon to genocide the nihilist in a single lifetime. it is quite an arc in somebody‘s narrative and

in somebody‘s cv. arc in somebody's narrative and in somebody's cv. given that is your assessment, clearly, given that, what do you think the next five years old? well, i think it is going to be a rocky period in myanmar because i think the military still views her somewhat suspiciously, despite everything ijust said. because of her history, still views her somewhat suspiciously. democracy is very attenuated, as i said, i do not believe it can be a true democracy if you are systematically discriminating against people and disenfranchising particular people, and i think going to have to do look at her base and her supporters who still see her supporters who still see her as not only a berm is nationalist but as somebody who they want to see as expanding freedom, expanding democracy in the country —— burmese. there are many people on the sidelines were deeply disappointed with what happened to so how she will resolve

those contradictions remains to be seen. simon, thank you for coming on the programme and talking us through that. thank you. 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. steve rosenberg reports. in nagorno—karabakh, the exodus has begun. —— in nagorno—karabakh, the fighting has stopped but 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 comrades. but for these young men

there is relief, too, that a bloody six—week 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, bbc news. 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 the 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. tplf has called for talks, 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. little is 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 5 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 continued 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 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 flag—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 nationalforces. there are fears this could morph into full civil war. a stand—off between ethiopia's former and current rulers threatens to push the country to the brink. anne soy, bbc news. archaeologists in norway are racing against the onset of mould to dig up the first viking ship in more than a century. discovered in gjellestad, in the south—east of the country, two years ago, the 20 metre ship is being excavated because of its poor condition. a race against time now because of the mould. experts say the site has been

disturbed many times and that precious relics may have been plundered. that is it. i'm lewis wanderings. this is bbc news. —— lewis vaughan jones. hello there. today is shaping up to be not too bad a day. we should see quite a bit of sunshine around once we lose the morning rain. that band of rain has been spreading its way east slowly during the overnight period 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, some slightly fresher air behind it. it will be working its way eastwards and ahead of it, it'll be cloudy, breezy and mild. there will be lots of showers across the north—west from the word go. some 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. a slightly cooler day on sunday — your highs 10—14 degrees.

this is bbc news,

the headlines: with donald 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 to his democratic rivaljoe biden. it's official — aung san suu kyi's ruling party has won the general election in myanmar. it means another five years in power. the election, held on sunday, was the nation's second since the military relinquished absolute power in 2011. 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 compared to the previous 24 hour period. amnesty international says it has evidence that 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. now on bbc news, it's

time for brexitcast.