welcome to bbc news — i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: more setbacks for donald trump. georgia certifies joe biden's win in the state, while republicans from michigan say they've seen no information to overturn their results. pfizer asks regulators around the world for emergency approval of its coronavirus vaccine, we'll look at the challenges of getting it around the globe. saudi arabia hosts a meeting of the world's biggest economies— but can boycott calls take the shine off the 620 summit online? and, 60 million streams in a day, south korean band bts prove the k—pop bubble‘s far from bursting.

donald trump's efforts to overturn the result of the us presidential election have suffered further setbacks. the state of georgia has certified its results showing thatjoe biden beat mr trump by over 12,600 votes. and after meeting mr trump at the white house, senior republicans from michigan said they had seen no information that would overturn mr biden‘s victory in their state. the bbc‘s nomia iqbal is in washington. she says that despite them confirming victory for joe biden, president trump will still want to pursue any recounts.

that's not stopping him from still pushing ahead so today, we saw that georgia had certified the votes, confirmed that it will go tojoe biden. but donald trump can still demand a recount, that is still his right because, in terms of numbers of votes thatjoe biden had, it does fall within the margin, and donald trump today had a press conference and it was about covid—19, it about vaccines, but he came out and said "i won the election — i got more than 73 million votes." of course, joe biden got many more votes than that and the tally is coming up to nearly 80 million. and i think that gives us an indication that donald trump is still going right ahead with his plans to try and get the projections overturned. let's get some of the day's other news. millions of yemenis are at risk of starvation, according to the un secretary general, antonio guterres, who says yemen is facing what could be the worst famine the world has seen in decades. mr guterres blamed the situation on yemen's continuing war and the drastic reduction in the international community's funding

of un relief programmes. there's a call for the opening of humanitarian corridors to help civilians caught in the fighting in ethiopia's tigray region, warning of what it called "dramatic humanitarian impact". preparations are under way for an influx of up to 200,000 refugees into neighbouring sudan. thousands of opposition supporters in belarus have paid their last respects to an activist who died after a clash with suspected plain clothes police. witnesses say 31—year—old roman bonda renka was severely beaten when he tried to stop agents ripped down the opposition‘s red and white emblems. the exiled figurehead sviatlana sviatla na tsikhanouskaya said he was killed by government thugs. the interior ministry has denied involvement. the drugs manufacturer pfizer, and its partner biontech, are filing for emergency authorisation for their coronavirus vaccine, meaning they could start distributing it by mid—december. it'll be the job of the us food

and drug administration to decide if it's safe to roll out. dr mati hlatshwayo davis told us she has high expectations. i'm so happy to be able to say to you that i am actually optimistic, after one year of bad news after bad news, these preliminary data are wonderful. all of us in the medical research and public health arena are absolutely hopeful at this point. the news from pfizer, backed up by what moderna is seeing, is wonderful. but this is tempered by the fact that we still have to complete these studies. complete the numbers that are needed to reach significance. after which the data needs to be evaluated by external review boards. but pending that, this could be great news for the world. so talk us through, what are some of the difficulties and challenges when it comes to distributional? distribution is indeed

a challenge, it is one i have been trying to get people to talk about and think about from the summer. having a product is one thing but getting it out is another and a couple of things. pfizer's vaccine requires very low temperature and it requires places that have resources available to be able to keep it at these low temperatures. on top of that, equity. equity is key here. as you know, we've been talking about this data being disproportionately impacting brown and black communities in the us. also the elderly and people with underlying comorbidities such as lung and heart disease. so there has to be thoughts as to who will get it, when, and how this will be rolled out. i've talked to you before about the history of mistrust in black and brown communities based on, you know, years, historically, of systematic and institutional racism and so what we do not want to see here is an equitable

distribution that results in these folks being left behind once again. is that a concern that that will happen? i will say this. people have been extraordinarily thoughtful about the rollout plan. they has already been plans that have been released and thought about how this should be done and thinking about who needs to get this first when there is limited numbers. to that end, healthcare workers on the front lines were either directly or indirectly involved in the care of people with coronavirus, will be getting this in the first wave, as will people who are at higher risk, the elderly and people with comorbidities, such as the ones included. and although not explicitly said, we do know that black and brown communities who are suffering, also disproportionately, have high rates of these comorbidities so i'm confident that once the new administration is in power we will see as equitable a distribution as is possible.

from the optimism of a future vaccine to the reality here now. california is to impose a nightly curfew from saturday to combat a new surge in coronavirus transmissions. governor gavin newsom said the measure is crucial to slow down the rate of hospitalisations. sophie long reports. open". all: cali! as a raft of new measures restricting people's freedom comes into effect, there are jeers from people who have little to cheer. the aim is to stop the surge. but some feel the wrong targets are being hit. right now, you can go to a strip club — an indoor strip club — but you can't go to church indoors. across almost all of california, a new curfew. all restaurants, bars and non—essential businesses must close by 10pm, but those responsible for doing so say it'll be to police.

if we're the ones enforcing it, we're not involved in the making of the plans or anything, no, it's not going to work. those plans are dead on arrival, unfortunately. all the time, the economic impact of the closures continues to take its toll. use of food banks has more than doubled here. everything's out of whack, and it's depressing. although i'm handicapped, i still like to be able to move. it's difficult. i've never seen this. and i've been all around the united states of america, i've never seen nothing like this. janet has spent her whole working life at what disney calls "the happiest place on earth". she, like tens of thousands of disney employees, has been out of work for eight months. every day gets harder. it's been rough. since i had a good job with disney, it helped me keep afloat and take care of everything that i needed. right now, with not having

a job, makes it difficult. there is little sign of happiness here now, even hope is getting hard to find. in hospitals, where there has been no let up, exhausted medical workers once again worry about being overwhelmed as admissions surge. also surging dramatically is the demand for testing. at dodger stadium in los angeles, cars are queueing in every direction, prompting pleas for people getting tested ahead of the holiday to hold off. the message is now to stay at home. and if you're not displaying symptoms, you shouldn't need testing because you shouldn't be socialising. as people wait for tests, a dramatic rollback of california's reopening is taking place. and there are warnings of even tighter restrictions if the case count continues to climb here. sophie long, bbc news, los angeles. saudi arabia is hosting this weekend's g20 summit, the annual gathering of heads of the world's biggest

economies. this is the first time an arab state has hosted the summit, but in the midst of a global pandemic leaders will be meeting online. for a closer look at the issues being discussed, i'm joined byjohn kirton, professor of political science and founder of the g20 research group. he we will get onto the substance but let start with the intriguing proposition of 620 the intriguing proposition of g20 summit online was not normally the deal, the personal relationships, all depend on being in close proximity to each other. do you think the fa ct each other. do you think the fact that it is online will make it harder to reach common goals and reach agreements? yes, indeed. g20 summit ‘s were a lwa ys yes, indeed. g20 summit ‘s were always far more scripted than the four —— smaller, more intimate, g7 ones, but now they have gone digital, leaders will have gone digital, leaders will have little choice but to speech a fire to each other and read their texts into the video

screens and hope that their collea g u es screens and hope that their colleagues are actually listening and watching on the other side. they won't be able to read the body language, have private chats, what is really on your mind. even have spontaneous encounters that can often spontaneous encounters that can ofte n lea d spontaneous encounters that can often lead to new initiatives just invented on the spot. so they will be stuck with what their lower levels have produced, their ministers, officials, and just say yeah, 0k, officials, and just say yeah, ok, with us. and what we know from the draft communique already being leaked, it is really not enough to meet the world's needs at this critical time. that is a really interesting insight and of course this is a crucial event for saudi arabia. it is always and will be dogged by its human rights abuses record and especially the murder of jamal khashoggi, thejournalist.

indeed, andi khashoggi, thejournalist. indeed, and i think it is important to remember that at the past several g20 summit ‘s, including the one hosted by the people's republic of china a few years ago, all g20 leaders have publicly said in their communique, we believe in human rights. so if a few of the leaders want to say, saudi arabia's host, are you living up arabia's host, are you living up to what you have claimed in the very recent past, tell us more. i think they've got a scripture for which to speak. at the same time, though, every leader has a cruel choice. do they use their very scarce times speaking to the video screen to actually focus on thoseissues screen to actually focus on those issues from the past or try and use it to save the hundreds of thousands of millions of lives that we're

going to lose in the next few weeks and months unless the g20 leaders can get their act together fast. not only on covid—i9 directly but answer —— foundation, the few —— make the food crisis we are now facing and so many deadly things. lots of other issues are going to be squeezed out, really. because they will be dominated by the coronavirus? sadly that is true. the biggest one, the most costly, is climate change which has been completely crowded out by covid—i9, and even though covid—i9 comes first, g20 summit have almost never made the connection between climate change and human health, even though everybody knows in the real world , though everybody knows in the real world, the natural world, those links are very intense.

climate change kills the forest, drives the animals out into closer contact with humans, infects them with the diseases they bring, ebola, covid—i9 now and many more to come. professor, those links that you point out our fascinating stop i'm afraid we are out of time so we will have to leave it there but great to have you on and your thoughts, thank you. good to be with you. you are watching bbc news, the headlines: more setbacks for donald trump. georgia has certified joe biden‘s win in the state, while republicans from michigan say they've seen no information to overturn their results. pfizer asks regulators around the world for emergency approval of its coronavirus vaccine. the british government has lost another senior

adviser after boris johnson disregarded his report into bullying in the home office. mrjohnson has cleared his home secretary priti patel, despite a report finding that she had sworn and shouted at her staff. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young reports. he's standing by her. boris johnson's taken months to give his verdict on the home secretary's behaviour, which an independent report described as "bullying." priti patel shouted and swore at staff, but the prime minister's judged that she didn't break ministerial rules. i asked her what she thought about the criticisms in the report. are you a bully? well, i'm here to give an unreserved apology today, and i am sorry if i have upset people in any way whatsoever. that was completely unintentional. and, vicki, i'll be very candid. you know, the work that i do here, in this department and across government, is deeply challenging, so if i have upset people, that has been completely unintentional. that was not my intention. the prime minister's adviser on ministerial standards found that the home secretary:

despite these findings from sir alex allan, the prime minister has the final say and has disagreed. sir alex has resigned. in overruling his independent adviser, the prime minister has made a huge political decision. downing street points to what they call "mitigating circumstances" — the fact that no—one mentioned the home secretary's behaviour to her at the time, and that she's apologised. ms patel‘s friends think she's been the victim of snobbery and sexism. but some of this has been contradicted by sir philip rutnam. he resigned in february as the most senior civil servant at the home office. reporter: sir philip, how much confidence do you have

in the inquiry? in a statement today, he said he wasn't asked to give evidence, and says he did repeatedly advise ms patel that she needed to treat staff with respect. his former department has also been criticised for being inflexible and unsupportive. the home secretary says the culture has now changed. at the time, of course — it says this in the report — that issues were not pointed out to me, we were not being supported, obviously, in our work, but this is a challenging department. people listening will think you're making excuses, and actually, there is no excuse for somebody who is in a senior position treating others badly. vicki, there are no excuses. i'm absolutely giving an unreserved, fulsome apology today — i cannot be any clearer about that whatsoever. but labour say priti patel should resign or be sacked. the prime minister has said that he loathes bullying and yet today, he has comprehensively failed a test of his leadership, when he's had a report on his desk precisely on that issue.

sir alex allan couldn't have been clearer — that the home secretary has not consistently met the high standards of the ministerial code. hanging onto priti patel will be a popular decision with conservative party members, but it will bring mrjohnson more political pain. let's have more on the us presidential elections. seth weathers is a republican strategist and was donald trump's former political director in georgia. he joins us from atlanta now. seth, we wanted to speak to you so seth, we wanted to speak to you so much that we will speak to you on the phone because our video linkjob done. can you hear us? i can hear you great. good stuff. we have a nice photo of you up so our viewers know what we're dealing with. let's deal with this

disconnect, shall we? we have rhetoric coming out of the white house of corruption and legal challenges. the reality in the courts, what is it, 20 odd now court cases have been withdrawn or have lost. what is going on with this disconnect? there is a lot going on and i think there are a lot of opinions floating around but i think the reality is we are going to have to wait until some of those reach higher courts. some will be thrown out in the lower courts and i think the ultimate goal is in some cases to get to the supreme court and i think these are that make the supreme court will have a difficult time. i think there is a high bar to reach. do you think that it will get that far? you are saying this would not want to go near these kind of decisions. do you think it will actually get there? you know, one of the cases may or may not make it all the way. i think the pennsylvania case has the

potential for that, to go all the way to the supreme court. but the pennsylvania case in itself is not going to overturn the election. so i think that, you know, they could be a case that might get there, otherwise i don't know. what i do know is syd ney i don't know. what i do know is sydney powell and rudy giuliani need to come up with a lot and come up with it soon to present in court. 0therwise come up with it soon to present in court. otherwise we might be reaching territory that makes space — we we're getting out there on a limb, let us put it that way. what are some of the avenues available now, if the evidence is not therefore the legal challenges. when does that leave the jump administration? it leaves the trump administration all the way to 2020 and that will be the end of the trump administration. but we will have a lasting legacy for many yea rs have a lasting legacy for many years to come. lenses leave

republicans? not many have come out and said it is time for donald trump to go. lots of people are saying there is no evidence yet. joe biden is the president—elect. the senior republicans who may know privately that the game is up but are not seeing it publicly, how will historyjudge them?” think the reality is we do have a system of checks and balances. we do have a system that allows for cases like this to be heard in court. i do think those avenues, if they believe they have a claim to make, go for it, go through the legal system, and it will have to be made soon. so yes i understand that if someone has a case, they would not want to put it all out in the public right now, but i do think that within the next two weeks we better see a lot of that from syd ney better see a lot of that from sydney powell and others. if not it is time to move on. they have exhausted the system. move

on. al gore is also the system back then. i think donald trump has the opportunity to exhaust system as well. and then look forward to 202k. system as well. and then look forward to 2024. it is now time forward to 2024. it is now time for us to move on forward to 2024. it is now time for us to move on 3s forward to 2024. it is now time for us to move on as well, but great to have you on the programme. seth weathers there. south korean megaband bts launched their new album, be, after becoming the fastest group since the beatles to earn four us number—one albums. their latest single, life goes on, has already been watched more 60 million times on youtube in under 24 hours. the all—korean, seven—piece boy band will perform it live for the american music awards on sunday. it's all music to mark lobel‘s ears. even multimillion—dollar boy

bands find lockdown a struggle at times. days cooped up in their pyjamas, reminiscing about their legion of fans. but through this new album, be, their message to them is life goes on. in a socially distance launch insole, they reflect on the rollercoaster of pandemic life and respond to the recent struggles injubilation. life and respond to the recent struggles in jubilation. ——in seoul. translation: ourjoy of life is touring but as that is cancelled we have become distressed and sad. but covid—i9 meant we could release dynamite which was unexpected, topping the us chart, realising our goal. dynamite, seen by a

record 100 million youtube viewers in august and just 24 hours shows that life is as sweet as honey. debit also with tracks around loneliness and accepting when things are not a lwa ys accepting when things are not always 0k. they always deliver in terms of their music because they write all their own things and they are involved in lots of different stages of their own music and that is what makes them special. they have a great spending on social media. but through that it is the fans that drive a lot of good and a lot of positivity from their influence. for example, bts themselves only had $1 million and the army then match that amount in 24 hours. as any pops i will tell you it is not ideal playing to an empty stadium, especially after the world tour

they had planned. but lockdown get them all the free time to record this new album. as for their reviews? well, they are mixed. the album covers many genres and while some think they have not taken enough risks, others praise them for dividing 28 minutes of comfort for millions. bts take to the stage in los angeles this sunday then it is another stage that beckons. even south korean popsta rs that beckons. even south korean popstars are expected to do two yea rs of popstars are expected to do two years of military service. translation: i will accept the call of the country at any time, whenever it happens. for now, they continue to write the rulebook on how to engage fans and bursting the traditional k‘p°p and bursting the traditional k—pop bubble by each developing their own skills as the mega band continues to make history on the world stage. mark lobel, bbc news. you can reach me on twitter —

i'm @lvaughanjones. this is bbc news. goodbye. hello there. on friday, we saw temperatures slowly rising as milderaircame in from the atlantic, together with a lot of cloud. but over this weekend, it's cooler air that's going to return across the uk, with temperatures set to drop a bit. now, we've seen the milderaircome in, thanks to south—westerly winds bringing in that cloud. this strip of cloud here is a weather front. that's producing the rain that we are seeing at the moment and it's moving very slowly southwards. now, that weather front will take the rain southwards. as it does so, the rain becomes light and patchy, but it pushes away the milder air steadily through the weekend, with cooler air then following from the north. and that's going to bring in some showers, mainly for scotland and for northern ireland. but we start the weekend with mild air across england and wales. it's colder in northern scotland early on saturday morning. it's windy here as well.

and then we've got our band of rain on that weather front. that rain will soon move away from southern scotland, northern ireland, heading into northern england in the morning, and then down through wales, into the north midlands later on in the day. to the south of that, generally dry. a lot of cloud but a hint of sunshine now and again. it's quite mild air still here, so temperatures 13 degrees. further north, it's getting colder through the day. there will be some sunshine, but those showers could be quite heavy and blustery, as well, because it's going to be quite a windy day, especially for northern scotland, where we're looking at gales, gusts of 70 miles an hour for a while in the northern isles. now, through saturday evening and saturday night, that band of clouds and rain, becoming light and patchy, heads down to southern england. elsewhere, we'll see clearing skies away from those showers continuing mainly in scotland. and the winds will gradually ease as well, so it points to a colder night. temperatures could be easily down to 4 or 5 degrees. but across southern parts of england, south of the m4, mainly, we could be left with a fair bit of cloud on sunday. a little rain now and again

but on the whole generally dry. further north, more in the way of sunshine. we keep some showers going across northern ireland, and in particular into scotland. again, they could be quite heavy. it's going to be a cooler day, i think. for many places, temperatures are going to struggle to make double figures. but it won't be as windy on sunday. now, looking ahead into the early parts of next week, and the wind direction changing back to more of a south—westerly. a little bit milder, but we've got weather fronts on the scene as well. they're going to bring cloud and rain. it looks like the wettest weather through monday, and into tuesday, will be across more northern and western parts of the uk.

this is bbc news, the headlines: donald trump's efforts to overturn the us presidential election result suffer further setbacks. the state of georgia certifies its results after a recount confirmed joe biden as the winner. and senior republicans from michigan say they've seen no information that would overturn mr biden's victory in their state. the world could be a step closer to a covid—19 vaccine, after the drugs company, pfizer, and its partner biontech, filed for emergency authorisation in the us and other countries around the globe. if approved, it will begin to be rolled out from next month. for the first time the g20 meeting of the world's leading economies is being hosted by an arab state. a broad agenda is on the table, but the meeting — held by saudi arabia — is being overshadowed by questions over the kingdom's human rights' record. now, in a few minutes it'll

be time for newswatch.