this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm sally bundock. a report into possible war crimes by australia's special forces in afghanistan outlines unlawful killings. the australian military issues an apology and admits discipline broke down. credible broke down. information regarding deeply credible information regarding deeply disturbing allegations of unlawful killings by some. the big defence spend bonanza: the british government is to invest £4 billion a year for the next four years into its armed forces — the largest spending in 30 years. another grim milestone: coronavirus deaths in america pass 250,000.

and the recount in georgia looks likely to stay withjoe biden, but president trump seems no closer to conceding. hello and welcome. we begin in australia, where a long—awaited war crimes report has found credible evidence that some of the country's elite soldiers murdered 39 civilians and prisoners while serving in afghanistan. the head of australia's defence force said the investigation had uncovered a shameful record of a warrior culture by some soldiers and said 19 service personnel could face prosection over the allegations. 0ur australia correspondent shaima khalil reports. the defence chief's language

left us in no doubt about how grave these alleged violations in afghanistan were. general angus campbell used words like toxic, appalling and shameful when describing the actions of members of the special forces, and it wasn't just that these alleged executions occurred, but it was also the culture of impunity in which they happened. these findings allege the most serious breaches of military conduct and professional values. the killing, the unlawful killing, of civilians and prisoners is never acceptable. none of the alleged unlawful killings were described as being in the heat of battle. none were alleged to have occurred in circumstances in which the intent of the perpetrator was unclear, confused or mistaken. one

picture stood out in general campbell's address — the moment he described the coercion of somejunior soldiers to allegedly shoot unarmed civilians to get their first kill ina civilians to get their first kill in a practice known as blooding. there are also allegations that radios and weapons were planted to substantiate claims that the victims were enemies killed in action. general campbell said that a badly needed cultural change was under way. he also addressed the afghan people. to the people of afghanistan — on behalf of the australian defence force, i sincerely and unreservedly apologise for any wrongdoing by australian soldiers. such alleged behaviour profoundly disrespected the trust placed in us by the afghan people, who had asked us to their country to help them. it would have devastated the lives of afghan families and communities, causing immeasurable pain and

suffering. a special investigator will be appointed to look at the findings of the report, gather evidence and then present it to the public prosecutor, a process that will ta ke yea rs. prosecutor, a process that will take years. the released version of this report is heavily redacted, and there are no details of specific incidents or individuals, but the information that we do have things enough to make for very uncomfortable reading, not just for the military or the government but also for the australian public. we're now joined by elaine pearson, the human rights watch‘s australian director in sydney. thank you for being on the programme. so for the victims in afghanistan, for their families, what does this apology, this step, mean for them? well, i hope this report does give some solace to the victims and their families. this is a vindication, this is an acknowledgement that these

horrific crimes occurred. there has also been an announcement about compensation. compensation will be paid. and that will occur regardless of the criminal process of identifying the perpetrators. but this really should still be one step in a larger step towards justice. ultimately we wa nt to towards justice. ultimately we want to see the perpetrators of these horrific crimes brought to justice. i was just these horrific crimes brought to justice. i wasjust going to ask you about your confidence in the process. they've announced there will be a special investigator, and this could take many years. how confident are you that these families, that the victims will see justice? it's families, that the victims will seejustice? it's hard families, that the victims will see justice? it's hard to say at this stage, but i think if this is going to succeed, it's really important that the office of the special prosecutor is independent, it's free from interference, from the military and from politicians, and that it is given adequate resources to carry out its mandate. we've certainly seen in other countries, such as the uk,

investigations like this have been set up and then closed without resulting in prosecutions of anyone. so i think canberra really needs to learn the lessons from the uk and other countries and make sure that this office of the special prosecutor is really tasked and does hold these perpetrators to account. and in terms of what the report does say, it's very, very uncomfortable reading. it talks about this culture within the military, within these very senior ranks, that was kind of enforced on lower—level officers who were — initiation processes , officers who were — initiation processes, all sorts of things going on. that's something that is very difficult to fix, isn't it? it is, and ultimately if we are talking about accountability, this should not just stop with the people who pulled the trigger and killed these people in afghanistan. this is also about command responsibility. so i think it's

very important that those who knew or should have known are also held to account and held criminally liable for these acts, because ultimately this was a culture where killings we re was a culture where killings were normalised, killings were in some cases encouraged. so that culture really needs to change. thank you for your time today, and of course for our viewers, there's so much detail on that story our website as well. britain has committed to the biggest investment in its military since the end of the cold war. the prime minister will announce an extra £4 billion a year over the next four years. the money will be spent on space and cyber defence projects such as an artificial intelligence agency, and could create 40,000 newjobs. 0ur defence correspondent jonathan beale reports. the defence secretary has been fighting hard for more money to modernise the armed forces and

to break the cycle of the past over ambitious and underfunded defence reviews. last month ben wallace visited troops on salisbury plain to see some of the new equipment already being tested by the army — robots, drones and autonomous systems, the future of warfare. the army has already set up a new unit to counter disinformation, an increase in the defence budget of £16.5 billion over the next four years which will also help to meet the new threats in the domains of cyber and space. it's a 10% rise in the annual mod budget of £40 billion. with public finance is tight, there's been a battle with treasury, but ben wallace has found an ally in the prime minister, who believes extra defence spending will bolster britain's place in the world and revive the economy. but bae systems factory of the future

in lancashire has already begun work on tempest, the new fighterjet, which will be flown with or without a pilot in the cockpit. borisjohnson says projects like this could create up to 10,000 jobs a year. the mod still has to make difficult decisions to cut some older equipment to fund the new, but the defence secretary says the extra cash will now provide certainty for the armed forces, even though it might mean savings elsewhere. there's already been speculation that the aid budget could be cut. more than two weeks since the us presidential election, donald trump is refusing to concede to joe donald trump is refusing to concede tojoe biden. he continues to make unsubstantiated claims of massive voter fraud without as yet providing any evidence. in georgia, the manual recount of votes cast is due to be completed in the next few hours, while in wisconsin a partial recount will take place after the trump campaign paid

more than $3 million for it to go ahead. let's speak to our north america correspondent in los angeles. talk is through these recounts. in georgia it looks like it will be the conclusion that it was the first time around thejoe biden w011. first time around thejoe biden won. joe biden has a 14,000 both advantage so far. he is the winner pending this recount, and officials say they will announce later on thursday the result of the recount. it seems extremely unlikely that anything is going to change significantly that will mean thatjoe biden doesn't win in thatjoe biden doesn't win in that state of georgia. the president has also asked... sadly, as you can see there, peter is frozen, unfortunately. we are at the mercy, often, of

technology here on live television. hopefully peter will be able to rejoin us a little later in this programme. but just to say little later in this programme. butjust to say it looks like the georgia manual recount will confirm thatjoe biden won that state, whereas in wisconsin, the margin between the two leaders was much, much smaller. let's go back to peter. i'm told he is available again. peter, do continue with what you were saying, because the other thing i wanted to bring out concerning georgia was what it means for the senate as well. well, yes, of course that's a slightly different issue, that there are two senate seats still standing in georgia. there will be an election in the beginning of january. the republicans really need to hold onto those two senate seats to hold the majority and therefore the balance of power in the senate, but a tremendous amount of

money is being poured into georgia at the moment by both political parties, the republicans and democrats, because it is almost like a national election again, because it is so crucial, and long—term it is so significant for both parties, and of course there is significant forjoe biden as well as president. if he has the senate controlled by the same party, the democrats, it would be much easierfor him to get through the legislation that he wants to pursue over the next four years. now, wisconsin — talk us through that state and what is happening. yes, and this is his absolute right, the president has asked for a recount in two counties. remember that crucial midwestern state that the president narrowly won four yea rs president narrowly won four years ago against hillary clinton after the first time republicans won there in so many years. the president wants a recount in two highly populated areas that are dominated by democrats. again,

it seems very unlikely that it's going to change anything or at least a recount is going to change anything, in terms of the balance of voting. what it seems the president is doing is really trying to find some exa m ples of really trying to find some examples of election fraud, the kind of thing that he has been talking about over the last couple of weeks — perhaps a move that would at least in pa rt move that would at least in part justify his stance move that would at least in partjustify his stance over the last couple of weeks in not conceding to joe biden. the last couple of weeks in not conceding tojoe biden. at the end of the day, though, it doesn't seem as though it's going to change the numbers, and it certainly doesn't look like it's going to flip the state, so to say. briefly, while this is going on, the situation with regard to coronavirus is seemingly getting worse. more than 250,000 people have now died in the us. thanksgiving is coming up. fauci is giving advice as to what people should do in this current crisis. and the advice is essentially to cancel

thanksgiving. thanksgiving of course is the biggest holiday in the united states. traditionally people travel far and wide to be with their families on that day. that's exactly what people like anthony fauci don't want people doing at the moment. so they are saying, if you can manage it, stay at home with your close circle of family and maybe not even friends, just yourfamily — maybe not even friends, just your family — stay—at—home and maybe celebrate thanksgiving when all of this is over at some point next year. for now, thank you, peter. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we hear to the woman who gave birth to twins despite being very sick with coronavirus. 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: a report into possible war crimes by australia's special forces in afghanistan outlines dozens

of unlawful killings. the australian military issues an apology and admits discipline broke down. the british government is to invest £4 billion into its armed forces — the largest spending of its kind in 30 years. let's get some of the day's other news thousands of houses have been destroyed and many residents left homeless on wednesday after storm iota slammed northeastern nicaragua. it's one of the fiercest storms to hit the region in years. britain, the united states, canada, australia and new zealand have accused china of breaching its international obligations in hong kong with a concerted campaign to silence its critics. the countries' foreign ministers are urging beijing to reinstate elected members of the territory's legislature.

authorities in kenya acting after a bbc investigation have arrested three hospital staff as part of a probe into the theft and sale of babies, accusing some public hospitals and care homes of colluding with organised crime. the suspects were arraigned in court with possible links to child trafficking. the court appearance came a few hours after the inspector general of police had announced that three medical officers in the public hospital were under arrest on suspicion of colluding with child traffickers. they expose

an illegal child trafficking ring in kenya. the interim minister thanked the media and expressed his satisfaction that the inspector of police has taken action to ensure the crime has ended. police a local public hospitals and children's homes in nairobi are involved. i want to thank you very sincerely and i think the media for exposing this. thank you very much. we do not blame you when you ask questions and bring things like this out. the inspector general has done a good job. i am satisfied with what you have done and i support the speed at which you are moving to ensure everyone will be brought to justice. police commanders have been ordered to investigate public

and private hospitals as well as children's homes. these actions were triggered following this bbc documentary which uncovered a series of illegal networks in which children are stolen and sold onto the street for as little as 400 us dollars. they also uncovered evidence of new bond babies offered for sale. the expose that i have seen, as i said before, or the government agencies involved in children detection have been immobilised and they will get to the bottom of this issue and no effort will be spent in ensuring that we protect our children and ensure children and mothers are safety. there are no reliable statistics on child trafficking and can you however a government organisation which tracks missing children has

recorded almost 600 cases in the past three years. it is a highly secretive and lucrative trade which leaves behind trauma and painful memories to mothers who may never see the children again. hello i'm chetan pathak with your thursday sport briefing. we'll start in the uefa nations league where italy and belgium havejoined france and spain in the finals. dominico berardi scored italy's second in a 2—0 win over bosnia herzegovina. whilst romelu lukaku scored twice as belgium, the number one ranked team in the world beat denmark 4—2. this tournament is only the second addition but when you see the teams in the final four, this competition is going to get very prestigious and is a tournament that is what you wa nt to a tournament that is what you want to be facing, a semi—final

in italy with these sort of teams, it shows you the importance this competition has for these nations. three south african cricketers are isolating before their upcoming limited—overs series at home to england following a positive coronavirus test. the three players are unnamed. cricket south africa says there was one positive from about 50 tests, with the other two players deemed close contacts. there are three t20's and three one dayers behind closed doors from the 27th of november next to the atp finals in london and daniil medvedev is through to the last four after beating novak djokovic in their latest match of the round—robin phase. medvedev — the number 4 seed from russia — followed up his victory over alexander zverev on monday by beating the world number one, to make it two wins out of two. winning 6—3, 6—3 to seal his place in the semi—finals with a match to spare. it was always a dream come true to play against him. actually,

he was one of the first big three are played in my career in my davis cup so it was amazing memories of matches against him. glad to beat him and serving well and saving the best for the most important moments and that is why i got the win. staying with the atp finals — thursday sees rafa nadal play his must win match against the defending champion stefanos tsitsipas. nadal was beaten here by dominic thiem on tuesday, which means he now has to beat tsitsipas or he's out. the 20 time grand slam champion's never won the atp finals but says he doesn't have anything to prove: i really don't need to show, even to myself or do no—one, that if i played my best tennis i think that if i played my best tennis ithinki that if i played my best tennis i think i can win against any surface and any player. but i have never one end of this

finals, that is a real thing at the same time so no problem about that. i know i have to play my best if i want to have chances. hatmaker to british royals and american celebrities, philip treacy, is presenting his collection in st petersburg's museum of contemporary art. he says that right now there is a great need for entertainment and happy distraction. gail maclellan reports. not so much a hat, all the work of art. philip treacy create headpieces, imaginative designs made in experimental materials, worn by british royals and hollywood stars. he unveiled his latest collection at the e ra rta his latest collection at the erarta museum his latest collection at the era rta museum of his latest collection at the erarta museum of contemporary art in saint petersburg. hats are about elegance and beauty, they are symbols of elegance and beauty and so is a saint petersburg. it is the most elegant and beautiful city and you live within elegance and

beauty so then i thought, of course, it deserves the power of the hat. 36 pieces feature in the exhibition. if you wa nted in the exhibition. if you wanted to what down the street unnoticed, this is not the hat for you. these are hats for big personalities. lady gaga, sarah jessica parker, madonna and the duchess of cambridge have all want his creation and he has, he says, defied the pandemic to bring his collection to russia's second city because people need distraction. we'll need entertainment of some description to distract us to what is happening worldwide. description to distract us to what is happening worldwidem might not protect it from wind or rain that it will add sparkle to adult day. —— dull day. gail maclellan, bbc news. just time to bring you some happier news related to coronavirus — a doctor who was being treated for the disease

woke up from a coma, to find her twin babies had been delivered alive and well. perpetual uke works here in the uk, at birmingham city hospital, and was put into induced coma for almost a month, during which time doctors at the hospital decided it would be safer for her and the twins if they were delivered two months prematurely by caesarean section. she said she didn't believe it when she woke up and was told the news. working up two weeks after the delivery was so unbelievable. first of all, i told my families that went were no longer than and then when they showed the twins had been delivered and they were in the intensive care unit, once they showed me the pictures, you need to have a look at those pictures, they are so tiny. you

could see all of their veins. they did not look like human beings. that is really good news. i will be back with all the business stories in a moment. hello there. much colder today than it has been of late thanks to an arctic blast, but this arctic blast is going to be quite brief because milder air looms in the atlantic and will arrive on friday for many areas. so today, cold. it will be windy as well to start with, and we'll have a mixture of sunshine and showers. the pressure chart shows why it's windy — northerly winds, lots of isobars across northern and eastern areas, hence the gales — but this ridge of high pressure will continue to nudge in through the course of the day, so the winds become lighter and will also kill off many of the showers, too. behind me there is that milder air with the frontal system that will start to make inroads on friday. so, today starts cold, windy, gales across northern and eastern areas, wintry showers continuing across scotland. these will tend to ease down. and we'll have some showers across england and wales,

these becoming confined towards the south east. many places seeing a lot of sunshine into the afternoon. the cloud will start to thicken up, though, across northern ireland ahead of this next frontal system. a chilly day to come, much colder than of late. temperatures are 4—10 degrees, but when you factor in the wind, certainly across northern and eastern areas, it's going to feel much colder than those values suggest, perhaps even subzero across central and eastern scotland. now, as we head on into tonight, it turns cold across central and eastern areas with a touch of frost. rain will start to push in to western areas. could see a few showers moving in ahead of it. and these will be wintry with some snow over the scottish hills as it bumps into the cold air. temperatures slowly recovering out west with the rain, but it stays quite chilly further east. but that cold air gets pushed out of the way as we head through friday, as the milder west to south—westerly winds move in off the atlantic. so it's a chilly start across northern and eastern areas, dry, too, but the rain out west will slowly spill its way eastwards. could see some transient snow over the scottish mountains as it moves its way eastwards. behind it, it turns a little bit drier for northern ireland,

for wales and the south west of england by the end of the day. and here, at the end of the day, it'll be much milder — 12—13 degrees. still fairly chilly across the east — 9—11 degrees. now, as we head on into the weekend, it stays pretty u nsettled. low pressure to the north of the uk, higher pressure to the south. across the north, it's going to be windy with gales on saturday across scotland with some showers, but lighter winds for england and wales, perhaps one or two showers on sunday. i think it's going to be mild for many of us on saturday. turns colder, though, across the north of the uk on sunday.

this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. destination unknown: the uk and eu make a final push for a brexit deal. but are they nearing the end of the road? plus: cleared for takeoff. boeing's troubled 737 max gets the go—ahead to return to the skies in the us. but rebuilding its global reputation will be a long haul. we start with brexit, because the uk and european union are in a final push to reach a deal,