this is bbc news. the headlines at 5pm: the entertainer des o'connor— known for his prime—time tv shows — has died at the age of 88. big hopes for the new coronavirus vaccine from the company behind it, but warnings of a hard winter ahead. it will not have a big impact on the infection numbers. labour calls for the government to force social media companies to remove anti—vaccine content from their platforms. the uk's chief brexit negotiator insists he won't be changing course ahead of a crucial week in trade talks with the eu. the former liverpool and england goalkeeper ray clemence has died

at the age of 72. and lewis hamilton wins a record—equalling seventh world title after claiming victory at the turkish grand prix. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. one of britain's best known entertainers, des o'connor, has died at the age of 88. the comedian, singer and television star died yesterday in hospital, following a fall at his home in buckinghamshire. he found fame as the host of smash—hit prime—time shows, in a career spanning nearly seven decades. he'll be remembered for his warmth and versatility as a performer, along with his readiness to laugh at himself. our arts correspondent david sillito

looks back at his life. i've kept a list of the insults against des o'connor. des o'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 good grace. number one. eric — i'vejust heard some good news. ernie — what good news? eric — des o'connor has got a sore throat. nothing seemed to dent that clean—cut, deep—tanned optimism. number two. ernie — des o'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 fella was always in every day in the front row and on about the third house of the fourth day i forgot, i dried, just couldn't remember what was next. this fella 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 from a childhood blighted by rickets to tv stardom but he was never going to be one of the cool gang. a little old lady came up to me one day to the stage door and said, "mr o'connor, i have enjoyed your show. "here's £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 o'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. he was never really fashionable and so never fell out of fashion. it was a career of 60 years 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. des o'connor who's died, aged 88. the uk has reported 24,962 new cases of coronavirus in the past 2a hours, slightly down on the figure yesterday.

the daily number of new deaths reported within 28 days of a positive test is 168, down from a62 on saturday. it takes the total number of deaths from coronavirus in the uk to 51,934. the founder of biontech, which has developed a coronavirus vaccine, says its impact will not be felt significantly until the summer. professor 0ogor shahin stressed that this winter would still be tough, but with a high vaccination rate, life could be back to normal in a year's time. this winter will be hard, so we will not have a big impact on the infection numbers with our vaccine in this winter. the bigger impact will happen until summer. the summer will help us anyway because the infection rate will go down in the summer. and what is absolutely essential

is that we get a high vaccination rate before autumn, winter next year. 0ur health correspondent richard galpin has been giving us more details on what the scientists are saying. some very big claims. basically, the one we have just been talking about, the fact they believe life could get back to normal for everybody next winter, and i think that's probably a lot quicker than many people had ever imagined, and there is a lot of questioning about that. they are saying that it's going to be, they'll have this vaccine rolled out, the vaccine which they have developed, he and his wife in recent weeks, it's obviously a huge development in that, absolutely a very big, big moment, a brilliant moment in many respects, and they are saying that the vaccine does stop symptoms in infected people and potentially could cut the spread of the virus by 50%. now, i think that claim is one of those which you think, well,

that's a really big thing to say, particularly as they don't have all the data at the moment, so maybe he has kind ofjumped ahead of himself a bit too much in that sense. so, the next few months, we will learn more, they will learn more about how this vaccine is working. in terms of long—term immunisation, do we have any idea about that? no, but going back to this, what the caveats are, there are many to what they have been saying about this, in particular, things, basic things like obviously the vaccine needs safety approval first, we don't know how long that's going to happen, and we don't know if the vaccine will work in elderly patients, and obviously that is very significant given the numbers of people who have been affected by coronavirus in the elderly populations around the world, and we don't know if it actually stops infected people spreading it, which is this idea of transmission,

which again is a really, really big issue, and that needs to be dealt with. so, there are huge things. he's put this out there, but there are huge questions about it which need to be answered. having said that, i think there is some hope, for example, if there is mass immunisation in the coming months and into the summer, then possibly it is just possible that by next winter things could be a lot, lot better. labour has called 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. under the plan, social media platforms would have to create filters to prevent disinformation from being published and to remove anti—vaccine messages if they do appear. katherine da costa has more.

with hopes of an effective coronavirus vaccine being rolled out by the end of the year, labour is calling for the overnment 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. police officers have stopped an evangelical church in north london from holding a baptism service in breach of coronavirus lockdown restrictions. around 30 worshippers had gathered at the angel church earlier, before officers halted the service. police allowed 15 people to remain inside the church, while another 15 took part in a socially distanced outdoor service nearby. the church's pastor said he wanted to hold the baptism because he served a greater good. the former england goalkeeper, ray clemence, has died at the age of 72. he was one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, playing for liverpool and spurs before retiring in 1988. 0ur sports correspondentjoe wilson looks back on his life.

with liverpool, ray clemence was the goalkeeper who won it all. that was a supreme save. he was a crucial part of a side that dominated english football. 0n five occasions, he was a league champion. three times, he was a european cup winner, in 1977, 78 and 81. in an outstanding side, he was the consistent, reliable presence, virtually ever present. his 665 appearances for liverpool made him one of the most respected players in the club's history, and the liverpool fans maintained their admiration even after clemence had moved on. fantastic reception from the club. he joined tottenham in 1982, and returning to anfield as a spurs player, he was greeted as warmly as ever by liverpool supporters. clemence's spell at tottenham was a success in its own right. he made 300 appearances for them, including an fa cup victory.

clemence, who was a tremendous influence. as an international player, ray clemence's golden years coincided with a gloomy time for england, as they failed to qualify for the world cup in 1974 and 1978. clemence also had to share the goalkeeper‘s position with peter shilton, as england were unable to decide who was first choice, but he still won over 60 caps for his country. 0nce his playing days were done, clemence enjoyed many years as a member of the england coaching staff under various managers. he successfully battled prostate cancer in 2005 to return to his role with the national team. ray clemence was awarded the mbe for his services to football. he was a goalkeeper whose excellence denied opponents for over two decades, a footballer who commanded the very highest respect. oh, what a save! earlier, i spoke to to the former arsenal goalkeeper and broadcaster bob wilson, who shared his

memories of ray clemence. it is incredibly sad to. he's one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet, and absolute gents, and in our recent times together, he's been an amazing support for the charities that me and my wife set up. but as a goalkeeper, i can go back to probably his first season in the liverpool goal because cork city an arsenal side in the 1971 final and although we managed to get away, managed to get the win, the final whistle, when i went to shake hands, as goalies always do with each other, there were steadily a tear in his eye. i said to him, ray, i'm 30 yea rs of his eye. i said to him, ray, i'm 30 years of age now, you'rejust his eye. i said to him, ray, i'm 30 years of age now, you're just 21, you've got a chance of coming back again, i'm at the end of my career, i never again played at wembley, he

a lwa ys i never again played at wembley, he always reminded me of this. and ray went back 30 or 40 times and that extraordinary career of his. he would have won more than his 61 caps outfit had not been for the great peter shilton, england to blessed with great goalkeepers. but an absolutely wonderful human being. key member of shankly‘s squad back in the 70s and 80s, as we all remember, but what made him so special? you're a fellow goalkeeper, what did he have, what did you have come out do you think that made you both stand out? i think, always within, there has to be a diamond in your game. within, there has to be a diamond in yourgame. in my within, there has to be a diamond in your game. in my case, they say all goalkeepers are crazy anyway, mine was diving directly at people's feet, i could read to save. and ray's case, it was an incredible agility. he had the most perfect builds, so slim and light on his feet, so fast on his feet, he was

capable, the ball would be heading for the corner and people would be already shot goal, and the opposition would celebrate a goal, it would bring out these miracle saves from his extraordinary gymnastic agility that is, obviously, you have to have as a goalkeeper. but we all play in our own way and rayjust goalkeeper. but we all play in our own way and ray just set examples. he set example is notjust on the field of play but in his fight with cancer, because we have knew, even though he kept seeing each other at a charity golf event something over the year, he has been fighting are all sorts of cancer for so many yea rs. all sorts of cancer for so many years. he hasjust been an all sorts of cancer for so many years. he has just been an amazing example for anyone who is facing life—threatening, serious illness. and to be in the family, because he has his lovely family, this is the saddest of days, and we all send our

love. he was, of course, a superstar, so many people remember some of this fantastic saves what he did. iwas some of this fantastic saves what he did. i wasjust looking at some of this fantastic saves what he did. i was just looking at some of the transfer fees, because even though they are very small now by comparison, they were still quite large, i thought, for the era. so was he at the first goalkeeping superstar of that time, do you think? the figures were reasonably high, once they? i mean, we're talking about a time when, i think i played in that cup final i mentioned against ray, my salary at that time was about £100 a week. so it's changed a little bit over the years! and ray did fall injury, just as it started to blossom, as it were, with regards to wages, almost spiralling out of control, but he was one of the first ones i was earning what he deserved, because the game was as popular and remains as popular. he set examples right across the

goalkeeping family. it's the only thing i can say about ray, because he always had time for people, it gives my words, if you stop him, if you ran him, if you bumped into him on holiday or whatever it might be, we would always give you time. and thatis we would always give you time. and that is a precious thing. he would a lwa ys that is a precious thing. he would always recognise how lucky he had been to become a famous goalkeeper in the way he was, and we all, as keepers, have massive highs and desperate lows, and throughout all of that, whether it be a high or low, you always got the same ray cle m e nts low, you always got the same ray clements smiled. and it isjust low, you always got the same ray clements smiled. and it is just such a sad day for all of us, for anyone who loves their football and the fa ns who loves their football and the fans of liverpool and tottenham hotspur. bob wilson on the late ray clements who died at the age of 72.

donald trump has appeared to acknowledge for the first time that his democratic rivaljoe biden won the us presidential election — but he's also reiterated unsubstantiated claims of widespread election fraud. on twitter, president trump said biden won because the election was rigged. despite losing the election earlier this month mr trump has so far refused to concede and his legal efforts have so far been unsucessful. earlier i spoke to our our north america correspondent will grant who's in washington. he said he won because, and then he repeated a slew of unsubstantiated allegations, and that got repeated very quickly by biden supporters who we re very quickly by biden supporters who were looking for any chances was the concession they were waiting for. then he was quick, president trump, to turn around and say, i concede nothing. so that's where we are, and

i suspect that this is about as far as he will go. he will always, i think, claimed that he somehow won at this election and it was only denied victory by a conspiracy involving the left and the media and so on involving the left and the media and so on and so forth. but this can't go on forever, and i think we have the cut—off point of december the 12th, where, legally, this has got to have been resolved. how many legal actions are still being played? that there is a variety, but there seem to be falling, a lot of them, at the first hurdle. 0ver there seem to be falling, a lot of them, at the first hurdle. over the past 48 hours, he has had difficulties in some of the key battlegrounds. there was arizona, where they dropped a lawsuit in maricopa county because it agreed that the number of balance they were talking about were far fewer than would ever overturn the result in the state againstjoe biden. similarly, they've had issues in michigan and decisions going against them in pennsylvania. really, wherever they turn at the moment,

none of them are coherent enough, solid enough, to overturn, at this stage, even the question is they're talking about, let alone the entire states, let alone the entire election. so it does look like the legal avenues are narrowing and you're right, there is a cut—off point. i think it will certainly ta ke point. i think it will certainly take it as far as that point and then probably until january take it as far as that point and then probably untiljanuary the 20th and continue to say, i do not see that the selection went against me, i will simply stop taking the legal process a ny i will simply stop taking the legal process any further. us president—electjoe biden's inoming chief of staff, ron klain, has said he believe president trump has now conceeded he has lost the election following a series of tweets. mr klain says it is the first step towards tranistion. except it is a further confirmation of the reality thatjoe biden won the election, and through the rest of that tweet, the president is

basis for claiming he got more votes. mr biden got the larger number of votes. if the president is able to recognise a router, that's positive. donald trump's twitter feed does not make to our present president or not, the american people did that. administration will administer that ascertainment, and we can do the things like meat with vaccine officials, get intelligence re—things, that is the measure of how this is moving forward. the leader of ethiopia's tigray region has confirmed his forces have bombed the airport in the eritrean capital, asmara. the attack widens the conflict, which erupted between the ethiopian government and the regional governing party in tigray last week. leaders in tigray have accused eritrea of siding with ethiopia.

tens of thousands of people have been escaped to sudan. will ross reports. 0n the 12th day of the conflict, refugees continue to pour over the sudanese border in their thousands. they've been forced to their homes in ethiopia as the fighting intensifies. these are arduous journeys for young and old. many have witnessed appalling violence. translation: that is no food, there is looting. we lost our belongings, i lost my siblings. we came to sudan on foot and my children are not eating. translation: we have pregnant sisters on the streets. the militia chased us to the border. there's looting and stealing and killing, like in rwanda. on the streets, people haven't eaten for three or four days. i don't know where my kids are. it's hard for aid agencies to get help to this remote area sudan, and if the number of refugees rises

sharply, they'll struggle to cope. we are starting to provide assistance services, we are working with various agencies and you can see some start of an assitance provision, but much more needs to be done. ethiopia's military has been fighting troops loyal to the politicians running the country's northern tigray region, the tplf party, which for years was the dominant politicalforce in ethiopia. the tplf has admitted attacking a federal army base last week, an event which the government said forced it into this war. but now there's been an a worrying escalation in the conflict. the leader of the tigray region has confirmed that tigraian forces bombed the airport in the eritrean capital asmara on saturday. debretsion gebremichael accuses the eritrean president isaias afwerki of backing the ethiopian government and sending soldiers

into the country to try to topple their common enemy, the tplf leadership. it's true that the ethiopian prime minister abiy ahmed is close to the autocratic eritrean leader. after coming to power in 2018, he reached out to make a peace deal with ethiopia's long—time foe. but mr abiy denies the involvement of eritrean troops. in a tweet, he said... the stability of ethiopia is seen as vital for the whole region. ethnic conflicts have been a problem for some time, but this new crisis has taken the country to a precipice. with its key ally, america, distracted by its own political drama, there are worrying signs that this could be just the start of a devastating conflict.

the well—known indian actor soumitra chatterjee has died of complications related to covid 19. the 85 year old was a legend in his native bengal region, where he starred in more than 300 films, most famously in those of the oscar—winning filmmaker satyajit ray. described as a sensitive, intellectual actor, soumitra chatterjee also wrote plays and edited a literary magazine. the environment secretary george eustice says he believes a trade agreement with the eu is still possible, as talks resume in brussels this week. mr eustice insisted the departure of borisjohnson's senior adviser, dominic cummings, would have no impact on the negotiations. ireland's foreign minister simon coveney has warned there will be no deal if the british government presses ahead with legislation that would breach international law.

our political correspondent jonathan blake reports. day after day this week, the eu's chief negotiator michel barnier has arrived for talks on a trade deal with the uk, but at this late stage, there has been little sign of progress. both sides maintained they want to do a deal in time for the deadline of december the 31st, and as far as the uk is concerned, it should be straightforward. the prime minister last week said that we needed to reenergise and the eu really needed to focus and refresh their mandate in these final weeks, because, yes, on many areas, progress has been made and agreements exist, and a lot of text has been drafted. there are these sticking points around, for instance, fisheries, around state aid rules. they can be resolved. we are not asking for anything miraculous. we are really asking for what other countries like norway and canada already have. arriving in brussels today for more talks in the coming week,

the uk's chief negotiator, lord frost, said there had been some progress in a positive direction in recent days, but added the two sides might not reach agreement, and that either way, people and businesses must prepare for the change that is coming on the 31st of december. the departure of dominic cummings as the prime minister's senior adviser makes no difference to the government's position, it claims. one eu country is clear, a breakthrough is needed for a deal to be done. this is very difficult, but it is also very doable, and i think the consequences of not getting a trade deal and a future relationship deal, of course, which goes beyond trade, because there is a whole range of other things that the eu and the uk need to facilitate each other on, as well. the consequences of not getting a future relationship agreement in place before the end of the year, i think, is very, very significant for britain and ireland in particular, but also for a number of other eu countries, as well. time is running out. the government is trying to ram home

the point that deal or no deal, change is coming. exactly what rests on the outcome of negotiations. lewis hamilton has won the formula 1 world championship, following an impressive victory in istanbul this afternoon. the win means he equals michael schumacher‘s record of seven world titles. it cements hamilton as one of the all—time greats of the sport, especially given he surpassed the german's number of race wins last month. hamilton, who does not yet have a contract for next year, said he wanted to stay in f1 and wanted to continue to campaign for change when it comes to human rights, diversity and environmentalism. now it's time for a look

at the weather with susan powell. hello. things are looking distinctly stormy along the south coast at the moment. choppy waters here at christchurch in dorset. those powerful showers pushing their way along. these are the bright, white areas you see on the satellite here, this is the main rain band that's now swinging away to the east. still some more persistent rain to come in the next few hours further north and northern england and scotland, but the showers to the south, i think, pack all the power. the gustiest of the winds here, a risk of some coastal flooding. there goes the tail end of the rain band out into the north sea into the early hours, but showers do follow on for scotland and northern england. it's a mild enough night, with the breeze, lows of 6 to 9 degrees, and then, for monday, a little bit of a breather, a brief ridge of high pressure will ease back the winds. still quite a breezy day, biggest difference, though, largely dry for the majority of the uk during daylight hours.

but our next frontal system will start to approach the west in late afternoon, so, rain moving in through the evening to the western uk. hello this is bbc news with tim willcox. the headlines the entertainer des o'connor— known for his prime—time tv shows — has died at the age of 88. big hopes for the new coronavirus vaccine from the company behind it — but warnings of a hard winter ahead. 11 big impact on the infection numbers this winter. labour calls for the government to force social media companies to remove anti—vaccine content from their platforms. the uk's chief brexit negotiator insists he won't be changing course ahead of a crucial week in trade talks with the eu. oh, what a save!