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 2a 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. ina change in a change to their schedules, newscast is going to be brexitcast. we are bringing back our old podcast because it feels like there's quite a lot to say about brexit. the great thing is, reality obliged because i have gone back to trying to work out michel barnier‘s worker bouts. at lunchtime today, he tweeted that he was taking a break from the negotiations and he went looking for some level playing fields. he took a picture of himself in a playing field because that is one of the big disputes in the negotiation. we should say that you're charging onto the pitch, it's not quite all over because there are seven weeks ago when he comes out chasing michel barnier.m was a football picture. north london i was told. we went to the nearest football pitch and was in london and was michel barnier there? no he was not. how did you feel? it left me with a sad daily truck that i had missed it. i gone to

com pletely had missed it. i gone to completely the wrong football pitch and i completely missed him because he wasn't there. didn't you attack him, is that because you always found him in brussels? what am i to take from his wistful look across the playing fields, was gallows humoura of the playing fields, was gallows humour a of optimism? the former, it said. and i think you're trying to take the mickey out of the british government for being a bit tense at the moment. and he is quite relaxed. we are bringing back which means catcher is in the house. hello. that always feels so eurovision. it also means we are the only prime time british program that has got a free left. welcome to brexitcast. no-one knows what brexitcast. no-one knows what brexit is. i don't understand the full extent of this. we are particularly reliant on the dover calais crossing. this

election the way the odds of the referendum. i urge everyone to find closure and that the healing began. i'm sorry, we will miss you. the process which i cannot describe as a dogs brexit. hello adam in the studio. or in the studio. katja in the studio, quite far apart. chris in the studio by myself apart from my old friend elizabeth. brexitcast is back, we can have oui’ brexitcast is back, we can have our branded coffee table in the studio which says brexitcast on it, just to remind us we're talking about. before we dive into what we do or don't know about the brexit process. this all happening against the backdrop of a kind of human resources nightmare in downing street but in the space of about 10 hours saw the comms director lee kane are promoted to chief of staff. except now he has left and is gone altogether. yes, i think it has been more than an hr nightmare,

a giant struggle behind the shiny black door where things are taken on in our behalf. if we get into the nitty—gritty from the sad old nerds like us who are fascinated by the soap opera. if you think it doesn't matter, well, this is about who is in charge, this is about who is in charge, this is about who is spending the prime minister's year and the kinds of decisions taken at the influence of our lives. it has been proper, psychodrama, soap opera, absolutely whole kit and caboodle. a great fiasco. a lot of the private feuding we have all known about a bit and we have talked about that a little bit has all suddenly burst into the open. you're right, lee kane had discussions with boris johnson about the chief of staff job to try to johnson about the chief of staffjob to try to bring order to downing street. leaving with a dramatic pose there. some other people found out about it and we understand the prime minister's partner, a former tory operative. the new press secretary, allegra stratton. no impressed by that, and the ministers as well. magically, 9pm last night, he quit. it

does seem curious that this was a thing on the surface. everything that happens didn't seem like that huge a thing in the grand scheme of things but actually as laura was just saying, it seems to trigger quite a lot of people and a whole lot of stuff came tumbling out and it unleashed a lot of emotions. yes, totally because there is a particular genre of westminster story which is person you have never heard of liz'sjob which is person you have never heard of liz's job you which is person you have never heard of liz'sjob you do know they had. and so some people can think, why should i care about that? that's a reasonable question to ask but it matters because these are people with usually powerful and influential roles, even if they are not meant to be public figures. a new kind of know when they become public figures and they are in the news because something from that perspective has gone pretty wrong. what was really interesting this morning i was in downing street reporting for cutting up breakfast, the today show another estimate of the crack of dawn. we saw on this play out in public so all the stuff happened last night and then lee kane turns up for

work. i thought, then lee kane turns up for work. ithought, maybe he wanted to work from home today but he came in, albeit via the back door. dominic cummings, who has popped up on the news and last six months, he tumbled up and last six months, he tumbled up into the main way to downing street rather slowly. a lot of cameras there to get his picture. and then allegra stratton, former bbc reporter, itv reporter, guardian reporter, working in the treasury. as in doing that public facing job as a government spokeswoman. she got into the street, went into a carand into the street, went into a car and felt the need for some fresh airand car and felt the need for some fresh air and the window down. we know that is advised in this covid secular days but happen to be on the other side of the half well of the snappers were. that's funny! two came out a few hours later you may have seen the pictures online on the cv of her getting out of the carand won cv of her getting out of the car and won doing that over the shoulder thing and smile to the camera which you are not obliged to do but she decided she would today. i'm sure it will immediately make its way into the front page of the newspaper tomorrow. let's not

go to the proper menu, i could read some of the stuff on the phone. it was a properly conquers breathing. they were going completely crazy. somebody who doesn't normally say anything to journalist, not even remotely disloyal, phoned me last night saying i cannot expand how much of a mess this is. this is a total nightmare. they were shut last night of a mass workout of people in protest the fact that lee kane was going. there were chatter that the david frost, the chief negotiator had already discussed someone living in protest. don't know if that was true, it was denied. but i do know he has understood to be dreamily angry about this. and i suppose in the wider context, it may or may not be relevant to brexit‘s because this is about, ina to brexit‘s because this is about, in a way, the power struggle and perhaps the waning influence of the vote leave tea m influence of the vote leave team that got borisjohnson to be leader of the tory party, that got him a thumping majority. and have been in charge of downing street. so through a rollercoaster and now

they are not gone and ultimately this is about part of the situation is where people struggle to identify what it is that the prime minister actually wants. part of this story is about the fact that borisjohnson, of this story is about the fact that boris johnson, like of this story is about the fact that borisjohnson, like some previous prime ministers, finds it hard to make a decision. so people always say, it is like a court in there. people are second—guessing, what does he want, who is in charge, what happens if gary samuels doesn't like it? what happens if dominic cummings doesn't like it? the kind of lack of structure and grit despite the arrival of a new cabinet secretary trying to get his head around all of this is a big part of this story. ultimately, remember, there is one person be in charge. people get excited in westminster about who is in and out, but at the end of the day, the stories are always about the judgement of the prime minister which can be quite convenient for leader sometimes to have people to chuck over the side. katja has been noticed in brussels? well, laura's phone may have been

popping laura's phone may have been popping with exciting content of messages but my phone was popping of messages but my phone was popping with emojis of little bags of popcorn. the eu is watching, sees this as a sort of entertainment accepted not because at the end of the day, they don't care. theyjust want to know whether a deal is going to know whether a deal is going to be done or not. when you talk about boris johnson to be done or not. when you talk about borisjohnson making a decision, they are waiting for that decision and they kind of had the feeling that it was a little bit about before the brexit referendum. boris johnson had two letters, one for staying in the eu m1 for leaving. they feel he has i—hour, does he make this deal with the eu and accept compromises have to be made? 0r does he go for no deal and find that as politically more a cce pta ble that as politically more acceptable for him. they are thought two weeks ago that it was thought two weeks ago that it was really on track for getting a deal and everybody down to those compromises. right now, this week they do not. there is a real feeling of pessimism. we all talked about time running out. it really is running out.

the argument here is about what is the last day that a deal can be done. but people are just not sure. when is it, what are they saying? well, it depends on who you speak to. well, we know it was going to be at mid—october. the prime minister said mid—october and michel barnier said the end of october. then the eu said mid—november now they are saying november 19. if you push very ha rd saying november 19. if you push very hard and look at your contacts like, i don't buy, they were set up the last moment. i was told this week, la st moment. i was told this week, last week in november, and when i pushed again, there is the possibility for the beginning of december but you get into all sorts of eu politics because the european parliament wants to have some kind of a say. yes, it has to ratify a deal if a deal is reached. it wants to have time to read the deal, for the deal to go through a certain number of committees. its last official plenary session is around about mid—december. but somebody, notably not from the european

parliament said to me today, that if necessary, parliament would have to meet after christmas. so brace yourselves for that. i think it basically boils down to the fact. in the new year? yes. if there is a deal to be done and the eu is really not sure that there is a deal to be done therefore the two sides to reach. but if there is mine and proper progress is made next week, than the eu is not going to wa nt than the eu is not going to want this deal to dissolve over process. how would they accept that? i think there is a question about how with covid in downing street, how much the two attention the government is actually going to do this as talks go day after day after day. a bit earlier on, i spoke to michael gove, the chancellor of the duchy of lancaster to give his very full, grand sounding title. about whether or not with only a couple weeks ago, government is really concentrating on this in the way that they should. michael gove, in the same time as you can't give complete certainty

to business about how this is going to work. you have got people in government fighting like rats in a sack. what kind of impression is that if two people were desperately worried about what this might mean, desperately worried that there might not be a trade deal and you have what seems like absolute you have what seems like a bsolute ru ptu res you have what seems like absolute ruptures in downing street? there is a complete focus in government on making sure we can work with business and work with citizens in order to deliver on a promise of exit and take advantage of the opportunities are being outside the european union. can you say what that with a straight face? when the primers can even choose a chief of staff? what i do every day with the primers that does every day is ensure that does every day is ensure that we are delivering on the manifesto pledges that we were elected on last year. it is all happening with as well, as you said laura, and today, the cases in the uk was the tech by test and trace above 30,000 which is the highest number of confirmed cases with a test. quality scientists say we shouldn't look at a per day and is not totally out of whack with the averages. of course, there are always rivalries and

split loyalties in any government machine annoys a sense of eminent chaos around downing street, but this is on a very serious level. it is very dysfunctional. and it is happening right in the middle ofa happening right in the middle of a terrible pandemic in the middle of the economy shrinking again, and in some kind of strange shaped recession, whatever they want to college? wrk, our people are talking about a k shaped recession. now, this looming deadline about having to get a trade deal are not getting a trade deal. just you know... in terms of the actual things they are discussing a negotiating room, katya, they have managed to get a real lead on what they are actually discussing and what deals are being done on the way toa deals are being done on the way to a deal. have you managed to pick up anything about what might have changed or what has been offered or what they actually working on? well, we know for the eu, the priority is where michel barnier was, trying to look for a level playing field. and i think, to be honest, just to go back to what you're talking about

whether government is concentrating or not, ijust going to put know this will be a little bit controversial. but i don't know how much they need to concentrate because it is not new, is it? these are the same questions they have had all along. all along. all along. you have got the eu saying to the uk. the decision, if there is a deal relies on downing street. they know what i have to do and then we hear from lord frost that the uk's chief negotiator or those closest to the negotiations on the eu side of things that make uk side of things, are saying that it uk side of things, are saying thatitis uk side of things, are saying that it is the eu who is not inflexible and there will be no deal otherwise. so it goes around and around. it is not new, there is nothing new for the prime minister to get his teeth into. this is supposed to be last—minute opportunity for both sides to say, right, we're going to climb down from our positions and we are going to agree. the uk that we do need to sign up to some kind of commonly accepted principles when it comes to the environment or labour law, state aid is that big issue.

and the eu knows that it needs to concede and concede big—time when it comes to fish as well. we know what needs to be done. arguably, these negotiations canjust arguably, these negotiations can just keep going arguably, these negotiations canjust keep going and going and you need the prime minister to say, let's go for it. i'm not sure how much visibility actually having what they are stuck on or not. are as familiar as something really familiar. i dunno, sing happy birthday? i am familiar. i dunno, sing happy birthday? iam not familiar. i dunno, sing happy birthday? i am not sure. we don't have the rights to sentencing theok, i'll save the audience from that. they are still very far apart and clearly they are but not necessarily very far apart because of the detail but because of the detail but because there has not been but political shelf which, you know, in order to make it happen. that is what i mean, we're at the stage where somebody has to take a bit of political leap. which is the direction they do not want to take. enter the taoiseach in dublin who we went to go and chat to yesterday and his

instruction to the uk, having said of course the eu will compromise and we have budged, discussed not everyone in the uk think they have budged enoughin uk think they have budged enough in terms of fishing but he thinks the uk have to knuckle down, was his phrase, and do it. and he is still quite annoyed about some of the things that have happened over here in the past few months. for example the internal markets bill? which could see the overwriting of the divorce deal. listen to mr martin. did not think he was at the table already but the problem with it if i'm honest is trust. and we are now negotiating a deal with the uk and in the back this is the uk and in the back this is the negative in my view from the negative in my view from the internal market and potentially it might happen in the finance market from example, it is creating niggling doubts, will that deal be solid? so there is all that stuff about the internal market bell but then there is the other thing that we have not talked about so far on the

podcast which is the election ofjoe biden, podcast which is the election of joe biden, president—elect biden, and where that leaves, well, firstly one element is the likelihood of getting a trade deal with the us but then there is also his views on brexit when he has been very candid in the past that he thinks it is a historic mistake for the uk. yes and the taoiseach is very clear that he and mrmartin had taoiseach is very clear that he and mr martin had had a nice chat about how brexit must not undermine the good friday agreement in his view and really the uk ought to listen to the president—elect on this. this is what he said but in a minute i do want to pause and think whether or not it makes any difference because it has been quite a contested issue this week, does the new incoming occupant of the white house or certainly who everyone expects to move into the white housein expects to move into the white house in january actually making a difference that is not? his view was the whole brexit scenario should not undermine the good friday agreement andl undermine the good friday agreement and i think also to be fair, and i would be open with him in relation to this, i said to him that we wanted

britain and the european union to have a good future relationship. why? because i think withjoe relationship. why? because i think with joe biden we will get a greater trust towards multilateralism again and i think britain has a role here. and i think it works best if britain and europe can work on a sustainable future working relationship and in trade and in other areas. it would dovetail with the orientation that will emerge from the president—elect and the new team in the white house which will be towards that, and that is where we can optimise that andl is where we can optimise that and i think that is where, if i could respectfully say it, where the british government should head, in my view. it should head, in my view. it should knuckle down and start getting a deal with the european union. a nice way of saying get on with it and the man who was about to be the most powerful politician in the western world have told me he thinks you need to get on with it too but you, adam, chris, cartier, it will make a difference because i'm not so sure. “— difference because i'm not so sure. —— katya. last week, when

negotiations between the eu and uk were not going very well, there had been a suggestion that the uk was dragging its heels and that is because the government wanted to find out who would end up in the white house. the government said that was house. the government said that was not true, the eu said it did not get that impression. we know what joe biden's opinion is on brexit and we know a joe biden's opinion of the good friday opinion and we know about his routes to ireland but i think it comes down to this deal here, again, it has not changed the main issues on the table. and the government has to decide is about sovereignty and messy politics or will play better for the prime minister to make concessions and insist that the eu makes concessions as well and get a deal, however thin it is. or really, we back to the argument where it is such a thing deal at the end of the day, with the government tying its hands at all and will there be a lot of blame put on there be a lot of blame put on the government as a result? and that really is where the eu is watching and waiting to find

out. although what i think was interesting about that clip from the taoiseach, the second one, he was not saying do a deal and respect the good friday appeal union otherwise you will annoyjoe biden, he wasn't explicit, he was saying if you fail to do with the eu you will become a bit of an international pariah and it will be harder to deal with eve ryo ne will be harder to deal with everyone and you will be a bit like a broken nation. he did not go that far. exactly, get on and do it because there is a new president kid on the block who believes and wants all of us, may be, to return to a new way where western countries all are participating in institutions and that is the way for you, britain, to have influenced on the 21st century. i think he was trying to deliver it in a constructive way but i think the message was definitely there but it is interesting when i talked to a source on the us side of this who kind of looked at what happened here this week and all the frenzy about it on the eu and uk side and they were kind of scratching their heads

saying yeah, we know what he thought about brexit party also that you have left the eu and are trying to do a deal and why did you guys sort of get so crazy about it? we have other things to think about, it isn't just about you you know! correct, and that is even about who they will phone first and all of that but downing street, joe biden phoned the uk prime minister first after canada and mexico. ten minutes before. i'm not going to mention the other, you know, those two words that people obsess about which, let's not go there. there is also the argument about whether it makes a difference, doing a trade deal with the us irrespective of brexit trade deal was probably always going to take quite a while and the same pressures that are president trump would have faced in the second, similar to the ones biden may in the pressures from the us agricultural interests and all that stuff so interesting. the same farmers, the same industry i noticed this week that both the first and deputy first ministers of northern ireland who are from very different

traditions when it comes to what happens in ireland and northern ireland, to put it mildly, wrote a joint letter to the eu saying guys, and girls, you need to think very carefully about how this northern ireland protocol is implemented because it could jeopardise the shipment of supermarket goods from great britain to northern ireland. and that is both sides of their political spectrum. and both sides kind of asking them to be a bit flexible which was interesting. which, yeah, absolutely, i mean, and that was absolutely, i mean, and that was most certainly noted. in the eu. but then again it does not serve the eu well, right at this moment, to say sure, whatever you want. there is the threat of the internal market bill at the moment hanging over the eu if you like and the eu is basically kind of hoping that the prime minister realises if you reach a trade in future relationship deal between the government and brussels, then there will be a lot of those internal market bill clauses willjust quietly go away because it should deal

with a lot of those issues. this idea of rules for origin, like we would —— could come from and at risk are coming from, gb into northern ireland and which way you have to pay extra fees and so on and so forth is complicated and it has to be worked out. and obviously the eu will not want to be responsible for food shortages in northern ireland but all of this, all of this is a state of play if you like in these negotiations and it should not be play of course because it is lives and livelihoods as we very well know but this is the la st very well know but this is the last day, last minute of these negotiations, and the eu does not think that right now it is time to say sure, we will be flexible on northern ireland. such a eu first event, isn't it? it is! it is! brexitcast, if you have been with us before, it will say i will go first and take the shade and be the one to kind of get off my perch or where is the moment whether two the two principles... i was going to

say! i told hansen to be together and the problem is thatis together and the problem is that is difficult because of covid and all sorts of things and also... and those two people don't exist in this situation! as we have said before with the withdrawal agreement it was about ireland and the uk. and if you could work out a way forward over the border and protecting the good friday agreement, it was going to be the way forward and here we are talking about issues that affect all of the eu. germany doesn't have the power to do it, even if it holds the rotating presidency and even if angela merkel wanted to do it she could not do that for the other 26. emanuel macron, he cannot do it either. it is only, or ursula von der leyen, and she can only do it if he knows or at least the big powers of the eu are behind us. one other thing because i have to do one more thing. of course! i need to keep the tradition. interestingly and a couple of my conversations today i was hearing, you know, eu diplomat saint do you know what? so be it. maybe we need

to have no deal. because no deal is never going to be the end status. there is always going to be a conversation that is taken up sometime later in the day between the eu and uk, such close neighbours and traditionally such enormous trading partners. and the air is so thick with acrimony at the moment, as one person put it, that even if you squeeze past this quite narrow deal, you could end up in litigation almost as soon as use start on the first of january. almost as soon as use start on the first ofjanuary. is that how the two sides want to go forward ? how the two sides want to go forward? this is not the majority view of course, wishing for an ideal, but it is interesting that it is getting to that point. it is what i call the hokey cokey. we don't have the right for that either. and then you go in! and then you go out! anyway! but is quite good, isn't it? we should do it again sometime. what if we cross the streams of our sister pod casts americast. those young upstarts? well, it

would be great fun, wouldn't it, but it would be absolute pandemonium. can you imagine how long the episode lasted! crosstalk. well, if you would like us to do a americanewbrexit or whatever the name will be. lovely to see you all, and bringing up to date with brexit. thank you to you to listen —— for listening. we will be back with another episode soon. buyer. buyer. bye. brexitcast. from the bbc. 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 spreading 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—ii 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 with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm nancy kacungira. 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