this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the headlines at seven... conservative mps urge the prime minister to reset his government after the departure of his top adviser, dominic cummings. a thumbs—up from president trump as thousands of his supporters line the streets of the us capital. this is the scene live in washington as crowds march in support of the president's unsubstantiated claims of voterfraud. financial pressure builds for the 2.9 million people in the uk who are still excluded from the chancellor's coronavirus income support schemes. and diwali with a difference — the festival of lights is celebrated in a socially distanced way by hundreds of millions of people around the world.

good evening. several senior conservatives have urged the prime minister to use the departure of his chief adviser, dominic cummings, to "reset government". mr cummings walked out of downing street last night after the resignation of another seniorfigure, the director of communications, lee cain. the former brexit secretary david davis told the bbc that ministers are now hoping for "more of a say" in how the country is governed. a warning — this report from our political correspondent, nick eardley, contains flashing images. the dominic cummings era in government is coming to an end.

borisjohnson wants to clear the air in downing street, and that means his chief aide, seen here this morning leaving home, won't be returning to number 10. the way this place works matters to us all — to how decisions are made, to the direction of policy. after the very high—profile departures of recent days, and some of the drama inside, some tories are hoping for a change. it does give the government a chance to reset all sorts of things — its relationship with parliament, the way it deals with the press. and many of the failures of the last nine months have not been mr cummings‘s fault, they've been intrinsic in the system. there have been many unhappy tory mps in recent months, angry at high—profile u—turns, worried the prime minister wasn't listening to them. one of them told me changes in the top team would be important. it's going to make an enormous difference. over the past year, there has been a significant and growing gap between the number 10 operation

and the parliamentary party. we're enormously fond of him, and we felt we were losing him. and some colleagues felt that he'd been lost altogether. but now, we're looking forward to marching in lockstep alongside our prime minister. this is the prime minister last night, with another key aide, lee cain. mr cain quit after a power struggle over whether he'd be mrjohnson‘s chief of staff. allies say his departure was amicable, but those unhappy with his role included the prime minister's fiancee, carrie symonds. the man who ran number 10 for theresa may says the prime minister now has a chance to get things back on track. there's a big opportunity for him here, depending on the decisions he now makes. but i think in terms of the chief of staff role, the key thing i would say is that the most important word in the job title is staff, not chief. you're there not to try and deliver your own political agenda, your own views about what should happen to the country, but to make the government machine

work for the prime minister. and there are big decisions to be made. the government has to decide in the next couple of weeks whether to sign up to a trade agreement with europe, and what happens when the lockdown in england ends on the 2nd of december. ultimately, those decisions are for the prime minister, not for his aides. but after the departures of recent days, some tories are hoping the process might be a lot smoother. and we'll find out how this story — and many others — are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30 and 11:30 this evening in the papers — our guests joining me tonight are the director of datapoll, joe twyman, and the broadcaster and psychotherapist, lucy beresford. the latest government figures show there were 26,860 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 211,702. 1,617 people have been admitted to hospital on average each day over the week to last tuesday. and a62 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, a11 deaths were announced every day. it takes the total number of deaths so far across the uk to 51,766. the government's decision to extend the furlough scheme and to increase help for the self—employed has brought relief to millions of workers. but many others are still falling through the gaps. it's thought that 2.9 million people, from freelancers and contractors to small business owners, are still excluded in some

way from the chancellor's income support schemes. rishi sunak says he's doing all he can, but as emma simpson now reports, the financial pressure is building for those who've missed out. 98% of our earnings have gone. the rug was pulled from under our feet. now it is sleepless nights. ian and lindsay run a successful corporate catering business. they should be flat—out right now — instead they are not sure if any of these dishes will be made. ian is a limited company director, so they are only entitled to £1180 each a month on furlough. they have been using savings set aside for tax bills and a bounce—back loan to keep going. it's not going to last forever. there will come a point in time when... there will be no money. the pot is empty. the pot is empty and we've got nowhere to hide then. and then it doesn't make sense

why we kept our staff on if the business goes under, because why support businesses by giving staff furlough, keeping them employed, only for them to lose theirjobs because the business wasn't supported in the first place? they want the chancellor to give them the same support as everyone else. i'd like to beg him if necessary to help those that need it because at the moment people are suicidal. ian and lindsey feel as if they are on borrowed time, but for others the timer has already run out. some have lost everything they worked for because they've fallen between the cracks. at the beginning of the lockdown in march, it was really about getting support out quickly to those who needed it and there wasn't much time for the government to think about how best to target support. but now that the support packages have been extended once again, the government should be thinking about how best to target support to those who need it.

there is always a cast of thousands at the end of a blockbuster movie, and many of them are self—employed like louise burton. but this contract ruled her out for self employment job support. i pay tax, why shouldn't i be eligible for any kind of support? itjust makes me furious. and, you know, my mental health has been suffering because of this crisis. i know self—employment is hard and i know the industry is hard, but you never expect to be left out like this. the treasury says it has delivered one of the most comprehensive packages of support in the world. but eight months on, the pressure is increasing to do more to help the millions who missed out. emma simpson, bbc news. the bakery chain greggs has announced plans to cut more than 800 jobs because of a fall in sales due to the coronavirus restrictions.

managers have warned staff the firm may not be profitable if sales continue at lockdown levels. a woman killed in a hit—and—run crash in bolton has been named as former town mayoress gay wharton. greater manchester police say she was crossing a road when she was struck by a car on friday and was treated by paramedics but died at the scene. the driver of the car failed to stop. a 23—year—old man has been detained on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving. talks on a post—brexit trade agreement have made less progress in the past week than the eu had hoped for. an eu source said one of the meetings was "short and brutal". one of the uk contingent said "big gaps" still remained between the two sides, with sticking points around fishing quotas and trading standards on goods. there are just seven weeks for any deal to be agreed and ratified, before the end of the transition

period on january the first. the armed conflict between the federal government in ethiopia and forces loyal to the regional power in the northern tigray province appears to be deepening. in the latest incident, the government has accused the tigray side of firing rockets at two airports to the south. tigray officials say the missile attacks were in retaliation for government airstrikes in the region. addis ababa says the rockets targeted the cities of gondar and bahir dar. at least 17,000 ethiopian refugees have crossed the border into sudan to escape the fighting. translation: in hamra, we were bombarded from two directions, from the amhara region and from eritrea. we ran forfour hours, then fled on foot. translation: i went out with my father, my mother and my child with only what we wore, and now we have no money or anything.

we fled from death. translation: forces entered and burned our homes and killed people. they left nothing. we fled to sudan. amnesty international says there have been mass civilian killings. both sides accuse each other of targeting civilians. the un human rights office has also expressed concern. while the details of the alleged mass killings reported by amnesty international in may cadera in south—west tigray have not yet been fully verified, the high commissioner is calling for a full inquiry. if confirmed as having been deliberately carried out by a party to the current fighting, these killings of civilians would, of course, amount to war crimes. kalkidan yibeltal, our correspondent in ethiopia, has this update from the capital. the rocket attacks, they were fired from the northern state of tigray, which is in fighting with the federal army,

and they happened in its neighboring state of amhara. they shot these rockets at two airports in that state, in two different cities. the federal government said that one of the airports sustained some damage. the tplf, that's the political force in the northern state of tigray. they took responsibility for the attacks. and they say that they are in retaliation for previous air strikes by the federal army in the state of tigray. so this seems to be pretty much an escalating situation. it's a story that's developing every day. but unfortunately, we are seeing tensions escalating and the situation getting worse rather than better. since the fighting broke out last week, there has been a communication breakdown. so clear information is hard to come by. so we don't know exactly what's happening there. but as per the reports by amnesty international, it seems that scores and even hundreds might have been killed. these are civilians. amnesty international

is calling it a massacre. and the un is saying that if this report is true, that could amount to war crimes. eyewitnesses told amnesty that the killings happened by retreating forces loyal to the tplf, but the tplf denied those claims. in addition to killings, we are also seeing refugees, an increase in refugees into neighboring sudan and also internally displaced people, and humanitarian agencies not being able to provide assistance to this area because of the fighting, and since transportation is interrupted. so we are seeing more and more dire reports of the cost, the human cost of this conflict. let's take you now to washington dc where supporters of president trump are rallying to back his unsubstantiated claims

of voter fraud in the us election. the crowds have been gathering near freedom plaza, just east of the white house. organisers have predicted a huge turnout — although promises of massive rallies haven't always materialised. well, a little earlier in the day, this happened. president trump's motorcade passed the gathering demonstrators on saturday morning and did a circuit of freedom plaza, before carrying on to his golf club in sterling, virginia. it's unclear if he is planning to make any further appearances. the rally is expected to be met with counter protesters, who are organising a pro—biden march to the supreme court. yesterday, all states projected their results for the presidential election, withjoe biden winning with 306 electoral votes, a result that mr trump is yet to recognise. joining me now from washington is our correspondent will grant.

those rallies taking place in washington, dc, they have attracted quite an interesting group of people, haven't they? it is not a huge group of people, that needs to be said right at the top. it is in the thousands. it is certainly not the thousands. it is certainly not the hundreds of thousands, which the organisers hoped for. it is, by and large, ordinary voters, ordinary trump voters who feel his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud are true, and they want to show support for that. people have flown in and driven in all over the country for that. this is by no means like shutting down washington, dc or anything like that. you do kind of feel that this doesn't have the energy that president trump would have hoped it had. 306 was the

magic number for president trump would have hoped it had. 306 was the magic numberfor president trump in 2016, and he described it as a landslide. still no sign of a concession. people are worried this is now going to affectjoe biden‘s transition to january. when you hear some of those people out in the streets, it is extraordinary to hear people say, yes, it is a free and fair election in those states where president trump one and not in those he didn't when. it is a very confused picture, and it is of course affecting the transition. it already has affected the transition. by already has affected the transition. by now, the president—elect should have sat down with the president and it should have been cordial and dignified. there hasn't been any of those things. it means the trump transition team has not been able to get a ccess transition team has not been able to get access to certain government buildings and sit down with their future colleagues and so on and work out how they can best operate. it means that president—elect joe out how they can best operate. it means that president—electjoe biden

isn't getting the security briefings that he is entitled to as president—elect, so it is having a real—world impact, particularly when we let at the huge coronavirus numbers in the country at the moment. more than 180,000 new cases in the past 2a hours and what than 1100 deaths. we believe it is therefore now, but thank you very much. the demonstrations come after us president—electjoe biden won the state of georgia — the first time a democratic candidate has done so since 1992. that win strengthens biden‘s victory, giving him a total of 306 electoral college votes, well over the 270 he needed. since election night, president trump has tweeted more than 90 times, promoting claims of voter fraud without providing any evidence. experts now fear disinformation has undermined faith in democracy for millions, as marianna spring reports. even beforejoe biden was declared the us president—elect, people took to the streets to claim

the vote was rigged. this is why. this is a case where they are trying to steal an election. they are trying to rig an election, and we can't let that happen. #stopthesteal went viral after unsubstantiated allegations that the democrats had rigged and stolen the election. but seeds of mistrust in the democratic process were sown long before election night. trump tweeted allegations of voter fraud and election rigging over 70 times in the build—up to polling day. it's not a new theme — he made claims about fraud back in 2016 too. the difference this time is that lots more people have been seeing it all over their social media feeds for weeks and joining big facebook groups. i'm an admin of the stop the steal group on facebook. our movement believes that fraud has occurred, and we are angry. ijust think the voter fraud in this election,

just with the mail—in ballots, those have been a concern. president trump will be the winner after there is an honest recount in the states, and fraudulent votes are thrown out. the democrats have said since the beginning of all this covid stuff that they are going to do whatever it takes to get trump out, and i believe that they think they've succeeded. the experts are worried about its imminent and lasting impact. there were all of these breadcrumbs and a whole narrative framework that there was a forgone conclusion that the democrats were going to steal the election, and now we just have to watch the ways they are trying to do it. so people were primed to accept this narrative, to then propagate this narrative well before any votes were even cast. back at the source, social media sites have been trying to stamp out false and misleading posts, but they are struggling to keep pace. this weekend, more stop the steal protests are happening in the us.

one worry going forwards is that this online movement could provoke unrest, as viral disinformation risks seriously undermining the faith of millions in democracy. marianna spring, bbc news. the bbc understands borisjohnson is poised to announce that the government is bringing forward a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by a decade, from 2040 to 2030. it is understood that new hybrid cars — those with electric motors as well as engines — won't be banned until 2035. here's our chief environment correspondent, justin rowlatt, whose report was filmed prior to the current lockdown. cars have changed surprisingly little over the years. yes, the design and the performance have improved... ..but what happens under the bonnet hasn't. i can't believe it, racing at brooklands! engine roars. listen to that! she sounds and she looks

magnificent — but, remember, the basic principle of the internal combustion engine hasn't changed since this car was built 110 years ago and, remember, it relies on blowing up explosive gases. and we know that produces carbon dioxide and other pollutants. it really does accelerate fast! which is why the government isn't saying get rid of cars... ..just the engines. this is the race version ofjaguar‘s latest electric offering, proving the performance of electric vehicles, even at the top end, is at least the equal of petrol. most of the big car companies now have at least one electric vehicle in their range, but they say the 2030 target is very ambitious. we have been an industry built on petrol, diesel engines for over a century.

shifting that, with all the embedded investment, to a brand—new technology in the space of what is a few years is an incredible challenge. there are lots of questions. will electric vehicles be affordable? will they have the range we need, and where will we charge them? we really do need more charge points on city streets and in towns to cater for the people who don't have off—street parking opportunities. they need to be around, where people can see them, to give them confidence they are going to be able to charge their vehicles, and they also need to work. back at the museum, they're putting the cars away for the night. it now looks like, from 2030, our petrol and diesel cars will be on their way to being museum pieces, too. justin rowlatt, bbc news, brooklands museum. the festival of lights or diwali

is being celebrated today by hundreds of millions of hindus, sikhs and jains around the world. but festivities this year have been limited by coronavirus. the authorities in india, which is the second—worst affected country after the us, have asked people to observe social distancing rules. in london, the tate britain has been transformed with neon colours to coincide with the festival. earlier we spoke to deepa vithlani and her daughter siya who are celebrating diwali from home this year. deepa explained what they had planned. it has been a very different year, but we have all been adapting. we have got the patterns and the fairy lights are up, so i think everybody

knows we are celebrating. there are still lots of things you can do at home, and obviously chocolates and sweets feature a part of it throughout. a lot of the time, they are made in pretty geometrical patterns as well, and it is just a bright, colourful celebration because it is such a bright colourful celebration, and they are often put on the doorsteps of your homes. we have got some with coloured powder. it is welcoming the journey home and part of the celebration, you have balloons. it's a far cry from the tropical climate of the australian jungle, but the producers of this year's "i'm a celebrity, get me out of here" are still doing their best to make sure the celebs have a suitably uncomfortable experience. it all starts on itv tomorrow night. shane ritchie, sir mo farah and the bbc‘s victoria derbyshire are just three of the 10 celebs heading into camp. olivia richwald has been taking

a look at what they can expect. from the australian jungle to a supposedly—haunted castle in wales. this year's i'm a celebrity has relocated lock, stock and hammocks to the uk. but will the show, now in its 20th year, live up to expectations? a host of i'm a celeb's sister show thinks so. it's going to be freezing. i mean, in australia, yes, there are a lot of creepy crawlies, yes, there are snakes, yes, they‘ re hungry, yes, they're tired, but at least they've got the sunshine, whereas this time round, it is going to be so glacial. these are the sleeping quarters, and, in case you're wondering, there is at least a bit of a roof. first time we saw this castle, it immediately felt like the right place to go. it has an incredible feel to it. we love the way in which the outside is a sort of coming inside, that you have nature overrunning this place. it felt like a natural home

for i'm a celebrity. producers have adapted the format. aussie kiosk kev has been replaced by kiosk cledwyn, but the key question is, will the welsh critters be as horrifying as their australian counterparts? they are bringing in so many critters and all sorts and i don't know if i'm allowed to say, i'm going to say it anyway, so one of the new creatures is the bald rat. now, i've never heard of a bald rat before rehearsals yesterday and i would be petrified. there are ten contestants going into the castle and one of them should have an advantage. he's already a knight. bbc presenter victoria derbyshire is another bracing herself for a less than luxury experience, this is the camp shower and toilet. i'm not risk averse and i want to immerse myself in adventures like this. other contestants include shane ritchie who says he's taking part because he needs the cash.

former strictly professional dancer aj prichard, pa ralympian hollie arnold and giovanna fletcher, a podcaster, presenter and actress. producers are keeping contestants and crew safe with regular covid tests. the crew will also carry proximity buzzers which will alert them if they get too close. the contestants will become a bubble as they'll be living together, and the hosts ant and dec can stand nice and close as they're also in a type of bubble. the show launches on sunday evening, hoping to provide some much—needed light—hearted lockdown relief. olivia richwald, bbc news. well, the celebrities may not be seeing animals in the jungle this year, but if you're in florida you might just spot a giant alligator, strolling across the course at the valencia country club.

it's huge! the footage was filmed — from a safe distance — by pga tour professional, tyler stolting. here's his story. yeah, so i was actually out on the golf course getting it ready for a tournament this weekend. and i was driving away, and i saw something moving across the tee box — where the players tee off from — sped up, and then decided to get a quick video. the closer i got, the bigger it got. i've never seen anything like that, and i've never seen something that big, even in, like, the zoo here, you know? being here in florida, we are pretty used to the chance of seeing one, so i was pretty comfortable. i wasn't too worried. i know if you leave them alone, they leave you alone, so i wasn't too worried about getting attacked or anything like that. i got a great look at it. i was really close. i was in the golf cart

and i could see that it was real, and the only unusual thing was the way it was walking. it was walking very high — i've learned it's "a high walk," they call it. usually, they are on their bellies and along the ground, so that was a little different, definitely, to see them walking that high and it being that high off the ground and being so massive. you'd see me run! now it's time for a look at the weather with nick miller. hello, showers and very windy for some of us again. overnight we continue with heavy downpours, particularly northern ireland. we start with another spell of rain sweeping across england and wales and following on behind their will

be sunshine and showers. further rain at times in northern ireland in south—west scotland, and then another zone of rain arrives towards south—west england as we go on to the afternoon. this one accompanied by some winds right along the south coast of england with some gusts near 60 miles coast of england with some gusts near60 miles an coast of england with some gusts near 60 miles an hour and coast of england with some gusts near 60 miles an hourand may coast of england with some gusts near 60 miles an hour and may be nearer 70 in the channel islands at times. lighter winds in a northern scotla nd times. lighter winds in a northern scotland where you get to see a bit of sunshine. a cooler day compared with today, and although monday sta rts with today, and although monday starts fine, we will see some more rain heading into the west later on monday. any hello. this is bbc news with lukwesa burak. the headlines: conservative mps urge the prime minister to reset his government after the departure of his top adviser, dominic cummings. a thumbs—up from president trump as thousands of his supporters line the streets of the us capital in support