this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. calls for the uk government to force social media companies to remove anti—vaccine content from their platforms. clashes in washington — with one person stabbed — as thousands march through the streets to show their support for donald trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. thousands of ethiopians flee their country amid fighting between their government and forces in the tigray region — with the conflict now spilling across the eritrean border. and the promise of an extra a0 million pounds for green spaces in england as part of a plan to restore species and combat climate change. the british entertainer des o'connor — known for his

prime—time tv shows — has died at the age of 88. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world — and stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. in the uk, the labour party is calling on the government to bring forward legislation that would impose financial and criminal penalties for social media companies that fail to remove anti—vaccination content — ahead of the expected roll—out of a jab against the coronavirus. under the plan, social media platforms would have to create filters to prevent such content from being published, and to remove anti—vaccine messages if they do appear. katherine da costa has more.

with hopes rising of an effective coronavirus vaccine being rolled out by the end of the year, labour is calling for the government to fast—track emergency legislation to stamp out what it calls "dangerous anti—vax content online". the party claims dedicated groups with hundreds of thousands of online followers are still spreading disinformation, which it says poses a real threat to the take—up of the vaccine. labour says it would back legislation which includes financial and criminal penalties for social media giants that failed to act. it's urgent because we have the vaccine on the horizon, thank goodness. and we cannot have anything that is going to prevent or undermine the roll—out of the vaccine programme and create dangers for public health which is what this anti—vaccination content does. the government insists it takes the issue extremely seriously. in a statement it said it had...

but labour has warned the measures do not go far enough and has questioned why anti—vaccine groups are not being closed down. katherine da costa, bbc news. talks between the uk and the european union about a post—brexit trade deal will continue tomorrow in brussels. ireland's foreign minister has said that negotiations have got to make "big progress" this week, but that a deal is doable. our political correspondent jonathan blake said there was significant pressure on both sides for movement. yeah, familiar talk of a crunch week, make or break moment for brexit negotiations, all that talk has become foolish but there is an immovable deadline at the end of this year, december 31 transition period in and since the end of last year comes to an end in the uk and eu will have to trade with each other on a different basis.

that is either a free trade agreement with both sides are attempting to negotiate at the moment or on world trade organisation rules which will see ta riffs organisation rules which will see tariffs and charges imposed, and quotas or limits or the amount of goods that can be traded between both sides but crucial for both sides, trade negotiations due to continue and the foreign minister who has talked up the prospects of a deal and is keen for one to be done has said it is difficult but doable, and that we are running out of time now, talking about this being moved week on a sporting metaphor in an interview with sky news this morning so pressure interview with sky news this morning so pressure for both sides to come to an agreement. and for the uk site, they have accepted there has been very little progress over the last week or so, with the eu's

position on fishing which is one of the key sticking point remaining is com pletely the key sticking point remaining is completely unrealistic. it doesn't seem like there has been any progress there are on the other areas of contention which is of a equal playing field and of governance of any agreement that does emerge. this morning, speaking on the andrew marr programme, the environment secretary said he felt upbeat about the prospect of a deal. the prime minister said he really had to re—energise and focus, refresh a mandate any final weeks because, yes, in many areas, progress has been made and agreements exist with a lot of text being drafted but there are the sticking points earned fisheries and state aid rules that can be resolved. you're not for anything miraculous, just what other

countries like norway and canada have and it should be possible to reach that agreement. in terms of what we can do in the uk, the irish prime minister has said if we don't drop the internal market bill, there will be no deal, do you accept that is reality? now, he said that they would fall away, which is correct. the measures we took in the internal market bill really a safeguard to give effect to some of the force majeure closes in the agreement, should thejoint majeure closes in the agreement, should the joint committee process not come up with the result. church usedis not come up with the result. church used is talking about the other element to this process which is the controversial legislation that would give the power to break international law and set the exit terms of the eu, talk that eu countries would not ratify a deal of that legislation remained in play. a

few weeks before that comes back to you how to cope with so we will see what happens there but some crucial days ahead for the trade negotiations for the uk and eu. thousands of people have marched through the streets of washington dc to show their support for donald trump's unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the presidential election. protesters chanted "four more years" as they marched toward the supreme court. counter demonstrators heckled the trump supporters. david willis reports. a longing for actress election campaign has brought simmering tensions to the surface. as thousands of donald trump supporters, among the members of the far right militia group the proud boys turned out in the nation was my capital and were met by a smaller crowd of counter protesters and members of the black lives matter

movement. police sometimes struggle to keep both sides apart. the president said he might drop by and say hello as is motor appeared on pennsylvania avenue. he is refusing to concede and many think he is right to do so. we are not conceding because we have won the election. we believe this will end up in the supreme court. he is not the president alex because the media does not call the election. nonetheless, as they marched on the supreme court, the president's supporters called for four more years as his democratic

rivaljoe biden took to his bike in his home state of delaware during a breakfrom his home state of delaware during a break from deciding the shape of his new cabinet. the president elect continues to display an air of business as usual. even in the absence of federal funding needed for the transition. as night fell in the nation was my capital, tensions started to grow whilst a short distance away at the white house, the president tweeted defiantly... seen here as of two versions of america, each refusing to accept what the other continues to be irrefutable fact, that their side won this election. it doesn't bode well for an easy transition or for a peaceful handover of power. the leader of ethiopia's

tigray region has confirmed his forces have bombed the airport in the eritrean capital, asmara. this the attack widens the conflict which erupted between the ethiopian government and the governing party in tigray last week. leaders in tigray have accused eritrea of siding with ethiopia. tens of thousands of people have been displaced to sudan. our africa regional editor, will ross, has this report. escaping from war, these ethiopians are making the difficultjourney across the border into sudan after fleeing the fighting in the tigray region. they were stuck between the opposing forces, and fearing for their lives abandoned their homes in a hurry. the un says thousands of refugees have made it to this very remote area of sudan where the conditions are tough. as the fighting intensifies, camps are springing up for displaced civilians.

they spoke of the dangers that forced them to flee. in the chaos, many have been separated from their family members. 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. this is a conflict between ethiopia's army and fighters who are loyal to the politicians in charge of the country's tigray region. the government says the fighting was triggered by an attack on a federal military base last week. with telecommunications switched off in tigray, it's hard to know what's happening on the ground but there have been reports of hundreds of soldiers being killed on both sides. and the conflict has heightened ethnic divisions. dozens of civilians were killed on monday night in what amnesty international describes as a massacre. ethiopia's been through big changes since its prime minister abiy ahmed came to power in 2018. he was awarded the nobel peace prize

last year after reaching out to make peace with neighbouring eritrea. but the widespread reforms he pushed through sidelined the tigrayans of the tplf party who had long dominated the political scene. they accuse mr abiy of teaming up with his new friend the eritrean president to attack the tigrayan forces. earlier came the threat to target eritrea with air strikes. translation: whether they go from asmara or bahir dar to attack tigray or other places, whether it is by plane or other attacks, as per our statement that we'll commit retaliatory measures, we will undertake missile attacks on selected targets in addition to gondar and bahir dar airports. ethiopia's prime minister had predicted a swift win, but he may have underestimated the enemy. the impact of a drawn—out regional conflict would be devastating for the horn of africa region. will ross, bbc news. fifteen asia—pacific countries have formed the world's largest free trade grouping in a deal which is seen as an extension of china's influence in the region. it includes ten south—east asian countries, along with china,

japan, south korea, new zealand and australia. vietnam — which hosted the signing ceremony — said the group would account for 30 per cent of the world economy, reaching more than two billion consumers. armenia says it has uncovered a plot to stage a coup d'etat. the alleged plot involved several of the opposition leaders who were detained earlier this week after they organised demonstrations against the prime minister, following his decision to sign a controversial peace agreement with azerbaijan. as part of the peace deal agreed a week ago, several territories will be returned to azerbaijan. they were part of the country until the karabakh war in the early 19905 — when they were taken by armenia's forces. this map shows how territory has once again changed control — following several weeks of fighting. jonah fisher reports. the war over, its dreadful human cost is becoming clear. this is a road near the largest town in nagorno—karabakh. it was the site of armenia's

last stand a week ago. and there are scores of bodies and destroyed vehicles on the ground. armenia now says at least 2,300 of its soldiers died during the six weeks of fighting. azerbaijan has declined to publish its casualty figures. for armenia, this loss is notjust about lives, but territory. in kelbajar, just outside nagorno—karabakh, the villagers are packing up their things to leave before the land is handed to azerbaijan on sunday. some chose to burn and destroy their homes, rather than let them be taken over by their enemy. 27 years ago, it was the other way around — armenians driving out azerbaijanis from kelbajar after they'd won the war. having negotiated this week's peace deal, russia has troops on the ground, overseeing its implementation. several thousand have been deployed to keep the warring sides apart and to maintain a land corridor between armenia and what's left of its nagorno—karabakh enclave. this war has been a victory not just for azerbaijan, but for russia, too. jonah fisher, bbc news, yerevan.

the prince of wales will tell an audience in berlin in the next few hours, that germany and the uk must work together to tackle issues such as the pandemic and climate change. prince charles and the duchess of cornwall will become the first members of the royal family to attend germany's national day of mourning, when the country remembers victims of war and tyranny. in a speech in the lower house of the german parliament, the bundestag, prince charles, will say that the uk's and germany's national interests — whilst distinct — will always be entwined. the headlines on bbc news...

calls for the uk government to force social media companies to remove anti—vaccine content from their platforms. clashes in washington — with one person stabbed — as thousands march through the streets to show their support for donald trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. the british entertainer des 0'connor — known for his prime—time tv shows — has died at the age of 88. the founder of biontech, one of the firms behind a coronavirus vaccine which could protect more —— the bodies of a kurdish family who drowned while trying to cross the english channel have been repatriated and buried in iran. an iranian man who is accused of being the captain of the boat, has appeared before an investigating judge in france, with a view to being charged with manslaughter. bbc persian'sjiyar gol has been retracing the family's footsteps

and talking to people who were on the boat with them. a warning, you may find some of the testimony distressing. speaks own language. nine—year—old anita auditioning to be a movie star. she can do happy... ..and sad. "say it, ‘i want to be an actress,”' her dad tells her. the video captures a father's ambition to see his child pursue her dream. but a year later, that dream was fatally dashed in the cold waters of the english channel. man speaks own language. ebrahim and his friends were on the same boat. when it capsized, he tried to save anita. translation: the boat was turning upside down and rolling. i noticed the child was in the water.

i held her. i kept shaking her. i wasn't sure if she was alive or dead but she felt limp. all i could do was to cry. anita, her parents, and her brother armin all died. baby artin is still missing, presumed dead. all passengers on board were from sardasht, an economically impoverished and politically oppressed kurdish border town in western iran. alex met the family in france. those regions, they have less opportunities, definitely. the governments, iranian governments or even on the other side of the border, iraqi government, they fail this community. the governments do not consider them as a first—class citizen in these countries.

on an early october morning at this beach, the family crammed onto an eight—man boat with 18 others. anita took shelter in the cabin with her mum and brothers. but when the boat sank, they were trapped. translation: we tried to break the glass of the cabin but we couldn't even crack it. i saw baby artin floating inside, and his dad outside crying for help. hundreds of kurdish refugees are waiting in france to cross. the tragedy of anita's family has not persuaded them to give up on their dream — whatever the cost. jiyar gol, bbc news.

the british comedian, singer and tv personality des 0'connor has died — at the age of 88. for decades, he was one of the best known faces on british television, both on the bbc and itv. david sillito looks back at his life and long career. i've kept a list of the insults against des 0'connor. des 0'connor was in the ‘70s famous, a star, and on morecambe and wise, the butt of hundreds of gags. but the singer and comedian took it all with grace. number one: eric — i've just heard some good news. ernie — what good news? eric — des 0'connor has got a sore throat. nothing seemed to dent that clean—cut, deep—tanned optimism. number two. ernie — des 0'connor is a self—made man. eric — i think it's very nice of him to take the blame. # be sure it's true when you say i love you, love you, love you.

# his interest in show business had started in the raf and he had been a butlin's red coat and learned his craft struggling to get laughs in theatres such as the windmill with an audience that had come for the naked flesh more than the comedy. this fellow was always in everyday in the front row and on about the third house of the fourth day iforgot, i dried, just couldn't remember what was next. he said, "you tell the one about the parrot next. "oh, thank you very much. # loneliness # alone you'll always find me. # by the ‘60s he had star billing. he made more than 1,000 appearances at the palladium and recorded 36 albums. the son of a dustman from the east end of london he had gone to a childhood blighted by rickets to tv stardom but he was never going to be one of the cool gang. an old lady came up to me one day to the stage door and said, "mr 0'connor, i have enjoyed your show. "here is £5. could you send me your new lp?" i said, "you can get it for £3 in the shop,

you don't have to give me five." she said, "no, the last time i went into the shop "and asked for a des 0'connor lp the guy said, "you're kidding." laughter. as the decades rolled by he remained an almost ageless fixture in the schedules. he married four times, his fifth child arrived when he was 80. he was never really fashionable and so never fell out of fashion. it was a career of 60 yea rs of professional, unflappable, good—natu red charm. you have my word. well, that's good enough for me. and when the joke was on him he was always the first to laugh. laughter and applause. joining me now on the phone

is carole vorderman, who presented countdown alongside des 0'connor in 2007. thank you for being with us. that report just showing how self—deprecating he was. report just showing how self-deprecating he was. yeah, the one thing i will remember, i had two yea rs one thing i will remember, i had two years with him and he always wanted to entertain, notjust when he was in front of an audience, always. when we were walking to the studio down the dressing room corridor or wherever it might be, or having lunch in between recordings, he was a born entertainer. he really was. i've been around this business a0 yea rs now i've been around this business a0 years now and i bet so —— i've met so many people but he i think was the ultimate entertainer. when i was growing up, i was born in 1960 so i grew up through the des 0'connor

yea rs grew up through the des 0'connor years when he was on the television all the time, des 0'connor tonight and the morecambe and wise show and so on. 20 million people would sit around, laughing and crying. i can only say if he was the king, he was one of the very great british television entertainers, he really was. and so versatile. a good singer, a funnyman, comedian, a chat show host, tv personality, so many strings to his bow. absolutely. when you say he was a great singer, that made me laugh because that was one of the jokes made me laugh because that was one of thejokes in made me laugh because that was one of the jokes in all the morecambe and wise things, that des would get the microphone and though he would be about to sing and something would happen and eric and ernie would take the microphone away and he would never hear him sing, and that was a

very, very long running joke. never hear him sing, and that was a very, very long runningjoke. in spite of thejerky very, very long runningjoke. in spite of the jerky told about the little lady asking about the des 0'connor album, little lady asking about the des 0'connoralbum, millions little lady asking about the des 0'connor album, millions of people actually bought them. and the thing with him as he was so loved by britain, particularly in those days, the 60s, 70s, so incredibly loft because you felt warm and you heard his voice, you felt cosy, as though you're at home and that is rare in today's world but he certainly created that and the one thing i think above all that i remember is that when i was growing up watching him, and i'm going to start laughing now, but when freddie starr was on

his show and freddie would always pretend to be behaving... you're at home and it would go on for ages, the interview and you knew freddie starr would do something awful at the end. and it was that bubbling under of mischief and it was always in the eyes of des, and i think that is what we will remember, the mischief was always bubbling under, the twinkle was always in his eyes and it was just complete joy to work with him on countdown. we were only together for two years but it was a real joy together for two years but it was a realjoy and together for two years but it was a real joy and i together for two years but it was a realjoy and i learned a lot.l together for two years but it was a realjoy and i learned a lot. ajoy to talk to you in remembering des 0'connor. thank you so much for that tribute, great to talk to carol vorderman. now it's time for a look at the weather. hello, are fairly stormy weekend weather continues with low pressure

still driving things at the moment. heavy rain about today in strong winds, especially towards the south. we will see some strong winds also combined with high spring tide so i could be coastal flooding with those gusts of wind through the english channel as strong as 70 mph or more. gusts of a5 mph so enough to bring some small trees down, a lot of debris on the roads, surface water flooding as well, and colder than recent days at 11 celsius. this evening and tonight, the strongest winds will ease with most of the showers petering out but quite breezy and damp first thing tomorrow morning, and frost free with temperatures 5—8 celsius. through the day tomorrow, quieter day to today, still breezy, bit of sunshine today, still breezy, bit of sunshine to east, more cloud and outbreaks of rain working into the day. looking u nsettled rain working into the day. looking unsettled for the next few days. goodbye.

hello this is bbc news with ben brown. the headlines... calls for the uk government to force social media companies to remove anti—vaccine content from their platforms. clashes in washington, with one person stabbed as thousands march through the streets to show their support for donald trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. thousands of ethiopians flee their country amid fighting between their government and forces in the tigray region with the conflict now spilling across the eritrean border. and the promise of an extra £a0 million for green spaces in england as part of a plan to restore species and combat climate change. the british entertainer des 0'connor, known for his prime—time tv shows, has died at the age of 88.

time now for dateline... hello, and welcome to the programme which brings together some of the uk's leading political columnists, bbc specialists and the foreign correspondents who file their stories for audiences back home with the dateline: london. this week, a promise of relief from the pandemic, a vaccine that works. asjoe biden tries to trigger transition, president trump's first admission that someone other than donald trump may soon be in the white house. and as beijing hastened hong kong's transition away from accountable government. joining me: henry chu is london editor for the los angeles times. steve richards hosts the podcast rock'n'roll politics —

he's been reporting british politics since the days of madchester and britpop. and with me in the studio is celia hatton, the bbc‘s asia pacific editor. welcome to you, and to both of you, henry and steve, joining us remotely. lovely to talk to you all. monday's announcement of a vaccine said by the drug companies to be effective against the covid virus in 90% of cases holds out the hope of an end to the pandemic. here in the uk, the number of people who've died from the virus passed 50,000, not the highest number globally but one of the highest rates. what impact government communication has had on the health of the nation is debatable. that many in the governing conservative party think it's been poor though, was evidenced by the semi—public struggle which erupted in downing street this week, and ended on friday with the departure from number 10 of dominic cummings, until this weekend an adviser so important to borisjohnson that he refused to fire him even when he was accused of breaking lockdown rules.