welcome to bbc news. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: president trump says he won't put the us into lockdown, despite a surge in covid—19, as he comes close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year. the uk prime minister's most senior adviser dominic cummings has quit his job after days of turmoil within the government. hello and welcome to bbc news. president trump has made his first public comments since president—electjoe biden was declared the winner of the election. despite a record number of new coronavirus cases, the president said he would not put the united states into lockdown.

mr trump avoided any direct comment on the recent election in his speech, but came close to admitting that he's leaving the white house next year. here's our north america editorjon sopel. after a record long period of silence — eight days — donald trump is approaching a microphone. the news conference has been called to talk about the search for a vaccine, at a time when coronavirus cases seem to be spiralling out of control across the whole of the us. the past nine months, my administration has initiated the single greatest mobilisation in us history, pioneering, developing and manufacturing therapies and vaccines in record time. donald trump insisted he would not shut down the us economy again, but... i will not go — this administration will not be going to a lockdown. hopefully, whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be

— i guess time will tell — but i can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown. there won't. .. this is the first acknowledgement from the president that he might not be there comejanuary. thank you, everybody. thank you very much. but to the specific question — would he now concede to joe biden? he didn't hang around for questions from reporters, much to their frustration. his battle to overturn the result is going badly. on this friday the 13th in michigan, a judge threw out the case brought by his campaign over the way voting was conducted in detroit. joe biden will win arizona. he is the winner of 11 electoral votes. in arizona, the networks today finally called the result forjoe biden and, significantly, the trump campaign aren't going to challenge it. and the pain‘s been compounded in georgia — another long—time republican citadel that has gone tojoe biden, although this state will be subject to a recount. so we'll be counting every single piece of paper, every single ballot, every single lawfully

cast legal ballot. the president—elect, who's busy working on his transition, hasn't made any comment, but maybe he feels he doesn't need to. his attitude has been, since last saturday, that it's done, it's over. he's the next president. jon sopel, bbc news. the uk prime minister's most senior and influential adviser dominic cummings has left downing street for good. he walked out of number 10 very publicly on friday afternoon after clearing his desk. mr cummings, you may remember, ran the campaign to leave the eu in 2016. vicki young's report contains flash photography. leaving for the final time. one of the most influential figures in westminster propelled out of the door after a power struggle that erupted publicly and left downing street in turmoil.

two. -- cheering and applause. dominic cummings has been at borisjohnson‘s side for years, and made plenty of enemies. the prime minister has been persuaded he needs a different style of government, which means no place for some of his most loyal advisers. dominic cummings made his name as a formidable campaigner, first against the uk joining the euro. it was the eu referendum that forged his relationship with borisjohnson, and he was credited with the winning slogan "take back control". but the move into government threw up different challenges. mr cummings was ruthless with those he didn't consider to be loyal. he was dismissive of the cabinet, conservative mps and the civil service. parliament was controversially suspended when it tried to block a no—deal brexit. although he wasn't a member of the conservative party, he masterminded a huge election victory, appealing to leave voters in the north of england. well, he was always someone who would sort of shake things up. he didn't take things as if,

just because they had been done that way that they couldn't be done any other way, and it's always good, i think, to have people who challenge — challenge the system and challenge the way things are done. he's obviously been very influential in that way. but the covid pandemic left little room for his ambitious reforms and then, there was the infamous trip to barnard castle. while millions followed the rules and stayed at home, mr cummings drove hundreds of miles to county durham, and was later forced to explain his actions. we agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if i could drive safely. there was uproar, but mr johnson stuck by him. today, many tory mps are glad he's gone. mr cummings was a liability. i would like the prime minister to see this as an opportunity to muck out the stables, to get in the team of people that he really needs and deserves behind him. every day, the people working in that building make important decisions that affect every one of us and, this week, the prime minister's decided he wants a new team

to do that. conservative mps hope that it will mean a different tone from the government — less division, less aggression. what we don't know is whether it will mean a change in policy direction, and only the prime minister can decide that. the influence of boris johnson's fiancee has also played its part in this drama. carrie symonds worked for the conservative party for years and was said to be unhappy with the team around him. others are already enjoying the limelight. this is a face we will all be seeing much more of, former journalist allegra stratton will speak for the prime minister at new daily press conferences. the aim is a smoother operation. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. amid reports of increasing casualties in northern ethiopia, human rights watch has called on the federal government and the authorities in tigray region to protect civilians. it also urged them to allow in humanitarian agencies and to restore all telecommunication links which have been cut off since

the fighting began last week. deforestation in brazil's amazon region went up by 50% in october compared with the same month in 2019. preliminary satellite data collected by the government's national space research institute shows that more than 800 square kilometres of forest were destroyed last month — an area the size of new york city. the rate of destruction of the world's largest rainforest has increased sharply since the brazilian presidentjair bolsonaro took office in january last year. he has encouraged new agricultural, logging and mining activities in the amazon. he insists that the region needs to be developed. let's just take a look at some spectacular aerial shots of diwali festivals from uttar pradesh in india. diwali, popularly known as the festival of lights, is normally celebrated with parties, gifts and religious ceremonies. but with many places of worship closed and restrictions in place, traditional celebrations aren't possible this year.

but here you can you see the festivities have continued outdoors with a fantastic array of colour. you are watching bbc news. back now to those comments of president trump, where he came close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year. rick gates was deputy chairman of donald trump's 2016 campaign. you may recall he was sentenced to 36 months of probation, and his as—dayjail sentence was suspended because of covid. he assisted the mueller investigation. mr gates, great to see you. why is it so hard for mr trump to say he lost? thank you very much for having me. first of all, donald trump is a fighter first and foremost that he fought his way to the presidency in 2016 and he will continue to do so now. we have a process in the united states in this election that is still ongoing. some states still have not finalised their vote counts and two states have gone to

recount. and all of that is going to take time. we have a very defined process, you know, in the presidential election cycle a nd in the presidential election cycle and each day is going to be key to that process unfolding. so while everybody likes to have a winner right away, you have to win, you have to be patient... sorry, you did not wait in 2016, you did not wait for states to be certified in 2016 and safe harbour date and the electoral college or the vice president to open the votes. mr trump was seen as the president elect from the next day and he even went to the oval office. you did not wait then! correct, because hillary clinton conceded and that was her choice and donald trump has chosen to let the processed run out and he is legally allowed to do that and he had 73 million voters who supported that position and he is fighting for those voters as well. well, i mean, what he wa nts to well. well, i mean, what he wants to do is largely irrelevant. everything happens without him at this particular stage. so let's move on, why do you think, looking at all of

these projections, but he lost, but he got fewer votes, your pardon, fewer electoral votes than you did last time. let's look at that. absolutely, if you look at it on the face of it as of now, putting the two recou nts it as of now, putting the two recounts a in wisconsin and georgia, he is —— he has less electoral votes and one of the dynamics of this election that we did not have in 2016 was the sheer number of physical mail—in ballots and that has become the crux of the issue for a lot of republicans where they believe fraud has occurred. i will stop you there. infrastructure agency which is an agency of the us government, the department of homeland security, said in a statement on november 12 there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed roads i was in any way compromised. it is a secure election according to the us executive to us government. yeah, and look, that is incumbent upon the campaign to provide that evidence and they claim they have it and if they haveit claim they have it and if they have it they need to put it up and if they don't think this election is going to be over,

you are right, but again it is pa rt you are right, but again it is part of the process. the process is unfolding, we still have time, there are clear dates that are in line so you know everybody is asking to be patient only to conclude. of course but again the patient has not been part of the process before and you say the process before and you say the process is ongoing, the arizona campaign has been dropped, in michigan a judge has declined a request by trump supporters in pennsylvania the secretary of state that she is determined not to order a recount. there are no, there are a number of simple ways to say it is over. correct, and he is not prepared to do that right now and in his mind it is not over and he will continue it and he is legally permitted to do that. rick gates, thank you so much for talking to us. thank you. the serial killer peter sutcliffe, known as the yorkshire ripper, has died in hospital at the age of 7a. he had coronavirus. sutcliffe murdered 13 women across yorkshire and the north west of england between 1975 and 1980. he was also convicted of the attempted murder of seven other women. this report from our correspondent danny savage contains some flashing images.

over a period of six years, all of these women were murdered by the same man. 13 families' lives torn apart by peter sutcliffe. wilma mccann was the first to be killed, in leeds in 1975. her son richard was just five years old when she died. he believes today brings some sort of closure. i know that there will be many people that welcome this day, and maybe some of them will get some peace. it is the man that took my mum's life, and — so it is significant. it's not... well, it is emotive in some ways, but i have got my own life, i've got my own family now and let's get on with our lives with a bit more peace, shall we say, after today. this was in halifax, where19—year—old bank clerk josephine whitaker was killed. murder scenes were scattered across yorkshire and manchester. for several years, women, especially here in west yorkshire, were scared. going out alone at

night was a real risk. peter sutcliffe changed the way people lived. still, he found victims, like mo lea, who was an art student in leeds and survived when sutcliffe ambushed her. my attack did shape my life and my outlook, you know, within a matter of five minutes. one side of that timescale, i was a happy—go—lucky, young, innocent art student. and after that, i became sarcastic and cynical and i lost trust. sutcliffe was known to police. he was interviewed nine times, but things never went any further. tape: i'm jack. i see you are still having no luck catching me. that is partly because the police inquiry was famously led down a blind alley by hoax tapes from a man dubbed ‘wearsidejack‘. he sent letters and tapes, taunting the investigating officers. i have the greatest

respect for you, george. even though he fitted descriptions, it led to the conclusion that peter sutcliffe wasn't their man, as a retired detective recalls. one of the top—table officers said "um, uh... is he a geordie?" "no, no." "what's his name?" he said, "peter sutcliffe". "now, listen, boys. peter sutcliffe. bang. "peter sutcliffe is not the yorkshire ripper." so sutcliffe carried on killing. colleagues at the haulage firm where he worked knew he was a suspect, and used to joke about it. he was nicknamed ‘the ripper‘ and he used to answer to that sometimes, so it was, you know, it's rather... it's sad now, isn't it? when he was eventually arrested for having stolen number plates, he confessed. at dewsbury police station, the public turned out to express their disgust. shouting and jeering. sutcliffe was jailed for the rest of his life.

he died after contracting covid—19 and refusing treatment. few, if any, will mourn the passing of a man who destroyed so many lives. danny savage, bbc news, leeds. this is bbc news. the headlines: president trump says he won't put the us into lockdown, despite a surge in covid—19, as he comes close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year. the most senior advisor to the british prime minister, borisjohnson, has left downing street for the last time. dominic cummings was a key figure behind the successful brexit campaign. russian peacekeepers are deploying in the breakaway region of nagorno—karabakh, following a deal to end 6 weeks of war between azerbaijan and armenia. under the agreement, armenia will withdraw from districts held since 1994. azerbaijan will keep territory in nagorno—karabakh and the surrounding areas, retaken during the fighting. the enclave is internationally recognised as part of azerbaijan. but victory has come at a cost,

as our international correspondent, orla guerin, reports from the city of terter in azerbaijan. "get up and let's go," lalazar begs. a mother's lament at the grave of her only son. 25—year—old mehdi joined the azerbaijani army to fight for nagorno karabakh. he was killed last month. buried by his side, his 17—year—old cousin melek. mehdi's uncle natig safarov says they both took a secret to their graves.

we were welcomed to the family home near the front line city of terter. and to a room full of anguish. generations grieving for what might have been. the women sing lullabies to those who died in battle. and who are revered as martyrs. we don't know how many families are grieving. azerbaijan has not revealed its military losses. but lalazar mamadova, who is widowed, has lost her greatest support. she says mehdi chose to put his country first. she is proud of him and of melek.

melek‘s name means "angel". relatives say that described her in life. mehdi was quiet, he worked the land, and he couldn't wait tojoin up, according to his cousin, fadi safali. mehdi returned a hero,

to his bleak resting place. azerbaijan is the winning side in this war. it has reclaimed part of its territory. but mehdi and melek didn't live to see it. orla guerin, bbc news, terter, azerbaijan. coronavirus cases continue to rise in uk. the latest government figures show there were 27,301 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means that the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is now 24,430. and 376 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. it means on average in the past week 404 deaths were announced every day.

it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 51,304. however, today there is a glimmer of hope that lockdowns across the uk are helping — the r number, the rate at which the virus is spreading, is lower. it is still above 1, meaning the virus is still growing but it is slowing and now sits between 1 and 1 point 2. but hospitals are still under pressure across the country.0ur health editor hugh pym reports. it's really starting to hit. we've seen huge increase in numbers. the boss of milton keynes university hospital with a reminder that some services are still under immense pressure because of the covid second wave. here, they've seen a doubling of patients in the last five days and that means staff are stretched even further. we know that staff are still tired from the first wave, we know there are high levels of anxiety and everything we are doing here at the hospital is focused on making sure that we keep our staff safe and well.

daily hospital admissions of patients with coronavirus in the uk have risen steadily since early october. there's been a slightly slower rate of growth in recent days and they are still about half the level seen in early april. there are regional variations. some hospitals treating more patients than during the first wave, others a lot less. hospital cases reflect infections picked up in previous weeks. community testing schemes like this in liverpool, including some school pupils, are trying to find out how much the virus is spreading now, covering those with and without symptoms. there are also surveys covering the wider population. the office for national statistics survey covering infections in the community suggest that, in england last week, one in 85 had the virus, a bit more than the previous week. in wales, it was a similarfigure, again, a little bit higher. in scotland, the estimate is one in 135 people infected, down a bit on the previous week. in northern ireland, one in 105, again, a bit lower.

the ons suggests that, in areas of high infections, there has been a bit of a levelling off, but increases in other parts of the country. we are seeing a plateau of cases in certain areas. for example, northern ireland is starting to see a plateau of hospitalisations and deaths and, hopefully, that continues and starts to decrease. however, in certain areas, such as england and wales, it may be too soon to tell if those have had a positive impact. a key measure of how fast the virus is spreading or declining across the population is the reproduction, or r number. anything above one shows it's accelerating. below one and it's receding. the latest uk estimate is a range of 1—to—1.2 — slightly lower than last week's number. that indicates a slowdown for the virus. some health officials think it will fall below one in the coming weeks because of lockdown restrictions. but as to what's allowable over christmas, they say that's

a decision for ministers in the different uk governments. hugh pym, bbc news. millions of hindus, sikhs and jains are celebrating diwali — popularly known as the festival of lights. it's normally marked by visiting relatives and friends and hosting big parties. but this year coronavirus has affected the celebrations let's speak to our global religion reporter, sodaba haidare. how will people across the world managed to celebrate diwali this year? like most religious festivals, diwali has been compelled during the pandemic set celebrations will not be the same. it is one of the most important events for people and it is all about group worship, but some are encouraging people to stay at home. some people are tuning into online present rather than going to the temples. others

are avoiding seeing friends and relatives. lots of people around the world celebrating diwali at this week are taking all the precautions and adapting their homes to keep their loved ones safe. there must be fierce particularly in india and delhi that cases might rise because people are getting together? although most people will stick to the rules, there are fears in india. celebrations go on for days and india is at the second worst hit country by the virus and in delhi that cases arising by gatherings of up to 200 people are still allowed. since the beginning of the holiday, markets have been packed and social distancing has been lacked. despite warnings, there are no real strict restrictions in places. you and i have often spent time talking about religion and this yet you have spent time investigating how people of all faiths have been able to cope without being able

to worship together in person. what have you found? some of the most religious events happened in lockdown, easter, eve and ramadan to name a few. but there has been debate especially as a christmas is approaching in the uk, whether some were unfairly restricted. most of the festivals are about community and togetherness but people have generally stuck to the rules. they have used technology to state connected and celebrate through zoom and skype. it is not the same thing as being physically together but for some people it is the only option. it is not the same thing but thank you very much. to summarise our main news, in the us, president trump has made his first public appearance at the white house sincejoe biden was declared the victor of the election by media organisations around the

world. mrtrump media organisations around the world. mr trump avoiding any direct comment about what might happen in january. do direct comment about what might happen injanuary. do stay with us. hello there. we ended the working week on a fine note. we saw quite a bit of sunshine on friday, but it's going to be the case this weekend — it's going to be a lot more unsettled, thanks to low pressure. it'll be windy for most of us, and there will be spells of heavy rain at times — all courtesy of this new area of low pressure, which is going to stick around, both saturday and sunday, and it's going to bring strongest winds to the southern and western areas, through the day on saturday, and there'll be bands of rain spreading from south to north across the country. some of the rain could be quite heavy in places. maybe a rumble of thunder for england and wales, and very windy around the south—west. around irish sea coasts, up to 55 mph. probably the best of any dryer interludes will be across central northern scotland, and north—east england for a time. but a milder day to come, 12 to maybe 15 or 16 degrees across the south—east.

across the south—east. but that rain gets into northern and north—east areas through saturday evening. it's followed by further blustery showers or longer spells of rain moving up from the south. though again, there will be some dryer interludes, but it's going to be a blustery night — gusts of wind around 20—30 mph widely, more than that around the south—west — up to 50 mph there. temperature—wise, single—figure values across the north, but again, i think, a fairly mild night to come for england and wales. now, as we head on into sunday, here's our area of low pressure to the north—west of the uk, spinning across the country, bringing further bands of pretty heavy rain and strong winds. but it looks like the strongest of the winds on sunday will be across more southern parts of britain. gales running through the channel, 50—65 mph here. and there will be bands of rain spreading from west to east. again with some dry, maybe brighter interludes in between. it's not going to be a complete wash—out. a little bit cooler on sunday, temperatures of 11—14 celsius. now our weekend — the low pressure begins to slip away as we had on into next week.

a brief ridge of high pressure for a while, before this next feature starts to run in, to bring stronger winds and some rain through the day. so we could start dry and bright across much of the country, away from northern scotland, on monday. but then it goes downhill through the day with more rain piling into southern scotland, northern ireland, england, and wales. those temperatures will range from around 9—12 degrees. now, as we move through the week, it stays changeable. further spells of rain, followed by sunshine and showers. then there's a chance that all areas will be turning much colder by the end of the week.

this is bbc news.

the headlines: president trump says he won't put the us into lockdown, despite a surge in covid—19 cases. mr trump came close to admitting he's leaving the white house next year, saying he didn't know which administration would be in charge in the future. meanwhile, joe biden is projected to win the state of georgia. the result gives mr biden a victory of 306 electoral college votes to trump's 232 — far more than the 270 needed to secure the presidency. it puts increasing pressure on mr trump to admit defeat. the uk prime minister's most senior adviser dominic cummings has quit his job after days of political turmoil. he of political turmoil. was the man who ran the brexit he was the man who ran the brexit campaign in 2016. infighting at the heart of the government spilled out into the public eye this week as downing street's director of communications lee cain resigned. tory mps have urged an entire government relaunch.