this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm james reynolds. our top stories: spacex's first operational crewed flight is hurtling towards the international space station after launching from cape canaveral. barack obama tells the bbc his successor president trump is partly responsible for polarisation in america today. some of that is attributable to our current president, who actively fanned division because he felt it was good for his politics. the british prime minister borisjohnson is self—isolating at 10 downing street after meeting an mp who later tested positive for coronavirus. and it's a magnificent seventh world title for lewis hamilton as he wins the turkish grand

prix to become the most successful driver in the history of formula 1. hello and welcome. nasa and its private launch provider spacex has sent four astronauts to the international space station. the falcon—9 rocket, carrying a dragon capsule and its crew, took off from the kennedy space center in florida. this is only the second time the launch system has been used to transport people. our science correspondent victoria gill has more. mission control: three, two, one, zero. ignition. a spectacular show and a space exploration milestone. and resilience rises! not even gravity contains humanity when we explore as one for all.

the launch of this spacex dragon capsule, with its four crew, marks a new era — one in which the us space agency buys seats for its astronauts on a privately owned spacecraft. the space shuttle, retired almost a decade ago, was the last craft that was certified to fly nasa astronauts from american soil. but now, the agency will work in partnership with spacex, taking crew to and from the international space station. that's inside crew dragon right now. our crew—i crew now coasting in low earth orbits. sunday's launch is the combination of years of design —— sunday's launch is the culmination of years of design and testing but the demonstration flight back in may was the test that the world was watching, and spacex successfully transported two astronauts to the space station and brought them home safely. the four people onboard this first fully operational flight — nasa astronauts michael hopkins, victor glover and shannon walker, and the japanese space agency astronaut soichi noguchi — will bring the number of crew

on the international space station to seven. nasa says this will triple the amount of microgravity research that can be done. there are over 250 experiments that take place on the international space station at any one time and they are in all sorts of different areas. a lot of the research that is done is involved in medicines and in helping to understand how the human body works. it's a truly international endeavour. and the countries coming together is what we need in human exploration. this group will spend about six months in space, looking back on earth as the crisis of the pandemic continues to unfold. and in a nod to a mission accomplished during this most turbulent of years, they've called their ship resilience. victoria gill, bbc news. former us president barack obama has told the bbc that america is more divided now than when he was in office. british historian david olusoga met him to discuss his

long—awaited memoir a promised land — a reflection on the volatile racial divide in the us. the bbc‘s james landale has more. so help me god. congratulations, mr president. the election of america's first black president was seen by many as a watershed moment — a step towards ending historic divisions that had scarred the united states. but barack obama now believes those divides are deepening — divisions notjust of race, but also inequality. we are very divided right now — certainly more than we were when i first ran for office in 2007 and more divided than we were four years ago, when donald trump first won the presidency. some of that is attributable to our current president, who actively fanned division because he felt it was good

for his politics, but it preceded him and it will outlast him. in part, he says, that's because some americans feel they've lost their grip on the ladder of economic advancement, and can be persuaded it's someone else‘s fault. resentments fanned, he says, by conspiracy—fuelled social media. crazy conspiracy theories and what some have called truth decay, right, where facts don't matter. that has contributed enormously to these divisions. and — oh, yes — he believes the current president has played his part. what's been interesting, obviously, and sad during this election is that that kind of lack of fidelity to the truth has consequences when it's being promoted by the most powerful elected official in the country. fixing that truth decay,

he suggests, will take time and potentially better regulation of the internet and the media. i think at some point, it's going to require a combination of regulation and standards within industries to get us back to the point where we at least recognise a common set of facts before we start arguing about what we should do about those facts. as a new president prepares for his first term, his predecessor is mulling the legacy he left his country. mr obama says the us was better off after his eight years in office, but he accepts deep fault lines in american culture remain. james landale, bbc news. there are warnings that president trump's refusal to concede in the us presidential elections could have grave consequences for the fight against the coronavirus in the us. joe biden‘s top advisor says transition efforts need to begin this week to allow

the country to focus on tackling the pandemic. ron klain was speaking to nbc‘s meet the press. joe biden‘s going to become president of the united states in the midst of an ongoing crisis. that has to be a seamless transition. we now have the possibility — we need to see if it gets approved — of a vaccine, starting perhaps in december, january. there are people at hhs making plans to implement that vaccine. our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possible, so nothing drops in this change of power we're going to have january 20th. ron klain there. there are also concerns that president trump's refusal to concede defeat have national security implications. experts warn the us is being left vulnerable, especially since a string of sackings of top officials overseeing policy and intelligence. well earlier, i spoke tojohn b bellinger iii, who was a former senior national security lawyer in the george w bush

administration. i asked him how vital it is for the white house to declare joe biden as the next president. well, a slight delay is not a huge problem, given that president biden and the — or, soon—to—be president biden and vice president biden now — and his staff have got so much experience in government — they've been at it before — but the longer this delay goes on — if it goes on for weeks, it could be a really serious problem. when i came into the white house in 2001, after the delay because of the bush versus gore controversy, we had lost a month during the transition and we felt that we were behind and on the back foot. that same thing could happen here. the biden transition team are preparing, they're experienced, but they really do need to have access to the briefings and to the intelligence and to meet with people who are in the white house right now

dealing with these same problems, so it's going to become a problem if this delay goes on for much longer. let's look at the details. the 1963 law which governs this says that the general services administration chief — who is currently a bureaucrat called emily murphy — has the power to start this transition by identifying the apparent winner. if she doesn't want to do so, can she be bypassed? under the law, that would be hard to do. the biden administration's apparently considering suing the trump administration to force this official to issue what's called an ascertainment order to conclude that vice president biden won the election and that the transition may begin, but it would probably take a lawsuit for that to happen. john b bellinger iii. here in the uk, prime minister borisjohnson has been told to self—isolate after coming into contact with someone who has tested

positive for covid—i9. downing street said the prime minister is not showing symptoms. here in the uk, prime minister borisjohnson has been told —— 0ur uk political correspondent nick eardley has more. borisjohnson was contacted today by the test and trace programme in the uk and told that he'd come into contact with someone who's tested positive. my understanding is he had a meeting with a group of conservative mps on thursday. since that meeting, one of those mps, a man called lee anderson, developed symptoms and has subsequently tested positive. borisjohnson was contacted as a result. it's a pretty big deal. he'll have to stay home for the next ten days — it means he won't be able to be in parliament. i'm told he will be working from downing street. he does still intend on communicating with the country. it's supposed to be a pretty big week for borisjohnson — he's trying to reset his government after some factional fighting in his office over the last few days. there are conversations taking part with the parliamentary authorities in the uk to see whether he can still contribute to the commons, but i think

it's fair to say this couldn't have come at a worse time for boris johnson. it's also worth bearing in mind he was extremely ill with coronavirus earlier in the year, but we also don't know exactly what getting the virus means for your future immunity. borisjohnson doesn't have any symptoms just now. i'm told that he's absolutely fine, he's feeling well, but under the test and trace system in the uk, he has to self—isolate. one of the scientists behind the first covid vaccine to emerge from early clinical trials with high levels of success says it won't start to make a significant difference until next summer. professor ugur sahin, whose company biontech developed the vaccine with the pharmaceutical giant pfizer, told the bbc that normal life should be resuming this time next year if mass vaccination programmes had taken place by then. 0ur health correspondent sophie hutchinson reports. tiny vials of the new biontec/pfizer vaccine, which hold the world's hope

for an end to the pandemic. but today, one of its creators from the husband—and—wife team warned there are still many months to get through. 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 not happen until summer. the summer will help us anyway, because the infection rate will go down in summer, and what is absolutely essential is that we get a high vaccination rate before autumn and winter next year. there are still many unknowns about this new vaccine. how long does immunity from it last? well, its creators say you might need a jab every yea r, every two years or every five years — it is just too early to tell. and how effective is it in older people? well, up to 40% of those who took part in this trial that has been deemed so successful were older people,

and we should get more data on them in the next few weeks. and will it stop transmission from one person to another? well, its creators again say it seems to have been so successful at reducing illness in people that they are very hopeful that it could have a big impact on transmission, too. i am very confident that transmission between people will be reduced by such a highly effective vaccine — maybe not 90% but maybe 50%. but we should not forget that even that could result in a dramatic reduction in the pandemic‘s spread. but we will not know for sure until we see the data in a few months. others have sounded a note of caution about the possibility the virus could mutate, and that any successful vaccine needs to be able to adapt at speed. we mustn't take our eye off the ball. the virus is an rna virus and is highly likely to change

and we need to keep a watchful eye out for that and be able to respond if necessary. but there is genuine excitement about the vaccine, which will be given to those who live and work in care homes as a priority. 10 million doses should be here by the end of the year. sophie hutchinson, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: lewis hamilton becomes the most successful driver in the history of formula i as he secures his seventh world title. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself into police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far

of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement. the south african government has announced that it's opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: spacex's first operational crewed flight is on its way to the international space station after launching from cape canaveral in florida.

the former us president, barack obama, tells the bbc of deepening divides in america, which he says have been encouraged by donald trump. the united states has denounced attacks by ethiopia's tigray region on neighbouring eritrea. in a statement, the us state department's main diplomat for africa, urged "immediate action to protect civilians and restore peace. " the attacks widen the conflict which erupted between the ethiopian central government and the regional governing party in tigray last week. leaders in tigray have accused eritrea of siding with ethiopia. 0ur africa regional editor, 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 abandon their homes in ethiopia as the fighting intensifies. these are arduous journeys for young and old. many have witnessed appalling violence. translation: there 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. 0n 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 of 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 assistance 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 political force 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 a worrying escalation in the conflict. the leader of the tigray region has confirmed that tigrayan 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. will ross, bbc news. to latin america now. peru's interim president has resigned after less then a week in office. manuel merino lost the support of congress after the deaths of two young anti—government protesters in the capital, lima. widespread demonstrations were triggered by the impeachment on monday of mr merino's predecessor on corruption allegations. paul hawkins reports. yells in spanish celebrating the resignation of peru's latest presidentjust

five days after he took office. translation: at this moment, when the country is going through one of its greatest political crises, i want to announce to all of the country that i present my irrevocable resignation of the post of the presidency of the republic. my commitment is to peru. that announcement sparked celebrations on the streets of the capital, lima. the president's departure, triggered by the death of two anti—government protesters on saturday. translation: merino has resigned because his hands are stained with blood, the blood of our children. they have to pay, the congress members complicit in the deaths of our children. candlelight vigils were held for the victims, killed as police responded with bullets and tear gas to a largely peaceful demonstration. their reaction has been criticised by the un and human rights groups.

"we mothers and fathers in peru are in this situation, nobody wants what has happened but also no—one is free. there is a need to rise up," said the father of one of the victims. the impeachment of president vizcarra here triggered the demonstrations, removed from office for allegedly taking bribes. he was quick to respond to the resignation of his successor. translation: a dictator has left the palace. all peruvians are waiting to see what is decided today in congress. they will give us a solution which is selecting another person that they want. president vizcarra continues to enjoy support for his attempts to reform a country hit hard by covid. 35,000 peruvians have died from the virus — the third highest rate of deaths per 100,000 people in the world. some have questioned the wisdom of his removal in the midst of a pandemic and the crippling recession. while his supporters call it a parliamentary coup.

despite the demonstrations, congress is meeting to decide who will become peru's third president in a week. their choice unlikely to stop the protests. paul hawkins, bbc news. the british driver, lewis hamilton, has become the most successful in the history of formula 1 motor racing. victory at the turkish grand prix sealed his seventh world title, equalling the record of michael schumacher. but remember, hamilton had already won more individual races than schumacher. that was incredible, to be honest, i was aware of what i was fighting for that so many challenges in the most unusual year that we all experienced. and knowing now that is the number that was unimaginable. it, as i started getting nearer in those last few laps, you

know, i had no idea what was in there, the tyres could blow up, there, the tyres could blow up, the engine could fail, ijust had to keep believing i could get there. earlier, i spoke to motorsport journalist sef harding and i asked him for his reaction to lewis hamilton's record breaking victory. what we witnessed this weekend and in the last week, two historical events, of course we wrapped up the presidential campaign, election, here in the united states with the former vice president joe biden, becoming the 46th president of the united states, along with kamala harris, who is now the first asian—american and african—american elected vice president, and that speaks to what has been happening with lewis hamilton, now we have witnessed another historical event, with him now matching michael schumacher for most championships, and when he crossed that line it was a very emotional moment because when you listen to what lewis hamilton said, that he was speaking to the future, the children who have gone

through what he went through when he was a child, you know, let's not forget, he came from very humble beginnings, but also very challenging ones, as he had to deal with racial inequality, discrimination and racism, that develops a different kind of strength in you, and that is what lewis hamilton races with. when he goes out there, he's not just racing for the accolades and championships, he's racing for so much more than that, for all those young people, every man, woman and child who has experienced what he has experienced growing up, so it was a very special moment and it really goes into what he is, more thanjust a guy who puts on a helmet and gloves and gets behind the wheel, he is a human being who is very concerned with humanitarian issues. can i ask you a sporting question? if you put all the greatest drivers of all time in the same car at the peak of their powers, would hamilton win? great question... lewis hamilton takes a little bit from everybody,

so i think that would be a very big force to reckon with, and like i said before, he races with more than the thought of racing for himself and that gives him something extra, that gives him something to really think about when challenging and trying to get inside lewis hamilton's head, because there is a strength there and he's exhibited that strength, he has the fight of michael schumacher, he has the talent of driving and wet weather conditions like senna, all these legends, and when you are combining all those talents together, yes, that makes a force to be reckoned with so that i think would be a interesting win, but i will deflect the question for you, james. laughter a racing pigeon has fetched a record $1.9 million at auction in belgium. the bird named new kim was bought by a wealthy fan in china, where the sport has gained a huge following. the pigeon‘s breeder said his family were in total

shock at the price the bird fetched. why not? do stay with bbc news. hello. that was quite the weekend of weather, and to start the new week we find ourselves in between weather systems. so, actually, for a time there will be something drier and brighter. only for a time, another the weather system is coming in with more rain. here it is, that's the one that brought us the wet and windy weather over the weekend, but here is the next one. and in fact we'll start the day with a few outbreaks of rain from monday morning, for, particularly, parts of scotland and northern england. and that's going to fade away. it's a cooler start to the day than we've had recently. and by lunchtime much of the uk will be dry, there will be some breaks in the cloud allowing some sunny spells to come through, but remember that next weather system gradually increasing the cloud through northern ireland, wales, and the western

parts of england. and we'll get some rain moving in during the afternoon. also reaching in towards the south—west scotland. eastern areas will stay dry for daylight hours, anyway. it will begin to turn a bit milder again with the arrival of the rain, but through the evening and night we'll reach on to those areas that have stated try during the day and gets stuck across north—west scotland for tuesday into wednesday where it is looking very wet here. maybe up to 150mm in the hills, so there could be some flooding. mild overnight, and into tuesday so there's the weather system sticking around north—west scotland on tuesday. the rest of us are in this flow of very mild air coming in from the south—west. but there will be a lot of cloud around. it will be quite windy. you may see a bit of patchy, light rain and drizzle. particularly to western hills, but remember, the heavy and persistent rain coming in towards north—west scotland. if you see some hazy sunshine, you may well. in north—east scotland, parts of north—east england with that wind direction, your temperature could be around 17 celsius. still raining on wednesday, north—west scotland and not just here.

rain spreads east right across the uk. cold airfollowing on behind, still very mild across the east and south—east of england. the rain still coming with gusty winds. the rain eventually ends in north—west scotland. very wet on thursday in shetland. and then as we go from thursday, then still into friday, and a brisk north—north—westerly wind and there will be colder air moving south across the uk. some sunshine on thursday, and bands of showers moving south as well. so some rain at times this week. so, it will be quite windy. very mild for a time, but colder briefly later.

this is bbc news. the headlines:

a spacex capsule carrying four astronauts is on its way to the international space station after successfully launching from cape canaveral in florida. it's nasa's first fully fledged mission using a privately owned spacecraft. the capsule will act as a space taxi service in the coming years. the former us president barack obama has told the bbc that america is more divided today than it was when he was elected 12 years ago. he said his successor donald trump was partly responsible, because he had actively fanned division for his political purposes. us president—electjoe biden‘s chief of staff says the white house must allow the transition process to begin soon, so that they can focus on tackling coronavirus cases, which have just exceeded 11 million. president trump is still refusing to acknowledge he lost this month's vote.