this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. republican officials in two states re—confirm joe biden's victory. another defeat for donald trump hello and welcome to the programme in his attempts to overturn which brings together some the us election results. of the uk's leading political commentators, bbc specialists, the british cabinet minister priti patel keeps herjob and foreign correspondents who file their stories to the folks after being found to have broken back home with the dateline: london. rules by bullying staff. now questions for borisjohnson this week: more vaccine options, more good news over his influence on the report. a rocket attack on the in the battle to combat coronavirus. afghan capital, kabul. but will its distribution at least eight people have been be truly global? and as borisjohnson polishes killed and more than 30 injured. up the british sword ready to rattle it again, the nhs starts setting up is trump binding biden's coronavirus vaccination hands? centres across the uk, joining us: stephanie baker, and the first doses could be an american, is senior writer with bloomberg. delivered next month. janet daley, american by birth, the british government is to change how it invests but long resident in the uk, in big spending projects to ensure the north of england gets is a columnist on the sunday telegraph. with me a fair share of the cash. in the studio, the bbc‘s

diplomatic correspondent, an online summit of the world's biggest economies begins today in saudi arabia. paul adams. top of the agenda — the coronavirus pandemic there's a british joke buses which could readily be applied and its economic fallout. to vaccines against coronavirus: you wait for ages without seeing amazon and other online retailers one, then they all come at once. postpone black friday last week it was pfizer—biontech, discounts in france to help this week moderna as well as protect traditional retailers during lockdown. astra—zeneca, the manufacturer of a vaccine being developed in oxford here in the uk. the bus in london is neither as frequent or as popular as it was, as england is still in lockdown. though the political discussion throughout the uk is over how hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. i'm shaun ley. stay with us for the latest news and analysis from here and across the globe. we begin in the united states. republican officials in two us states have re confirmed in the last 2a hours that the results of the presidential election hold — joe biden won in georgia and in michigan. they said they found no

evidence of any problems with voting or counting votes. president trump on friday asked a delegation of republicans from michigan to come to washington to see if they could help him challenge the results. they told him they were going to certify mr biden‘s victory. our north america correspondent, david willis, reports. since losing the election, donald trump has largely confined his displeasure with the results to twitter, and has strayed from the theme of a white house event on drug crisis to reassert his victory. big pharma ran millions of dollars of negative advertisements against me during the campaign, which i won by the way, but you know, we'll find that out. the president wants to see results in swing states such as michigan overturned, and republican lawmakers from that state were given a noisy reception as they arrived in washington for a meeting at the white house. joe biden won michigan by more than 155,000 votes,

and his advisers called the invitation an abuse of presidential power. 0n the one hand, this is very harmful to the democratic process and naturally troubles people a great deal and on the other hand it is doomed to failure. so, it proved, after meeting with president trump, the michigan lawmakers released a statement saying they had not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election, and vowed not to interfere with the process of certifying the vote. certification in another swing state, georgia, has already taken place, however, after a hand recount of millions of ballots. joe biden‘s victory there was slimmer, and the trump campaign could now request a machine recount. the president continues to alleged voter fraud, claiming — without evidence — that hundreds of thousands of votes had been cast illegally, alleging in a tweet that without them he would have achieved a big victory.

and a georgia's governor, also republican, seem to suggest that the process might not be over there. we demand a complete explanations for all discrepancies identified so that oui’ all discrepancies identified so that our citizens will have complete confidence in our elections. after several states dismissed as lawsuits, donald trump's slim hope for remaining in the white house may now rest with republican officials in battleground states setting aside the results and declaring him the winner instead, subverting the will of the voters in a move unprecedented in modern american history. david willis, bbc news, los angeles. the judgment of prime minister boris johnson is in the spotlight for a second weekend in succession. last week, it was the abrupt departure of his chief adviser, who mrjohnson had previously refused to sack. this weekend, it's claims he tried to get an independent report into the conduct of a senior cabinet minister toned down. it concluded that the home

secretary — priti patel — broke the ministerial code by bullying staff. downing street has insisted the conclusions of sir alex allan's investigation were "entirely his own". he has resigned. 0ur political correspondent, jess parker reports. standing by her, borisjohnson says he has full confidence in priti patel and considers the matter closed after an independent report found her approach had, on occasion, amounted to behaviour that could be described as bullying. with evidence, it said, of shouting and swearing. i'm sorry that my behaviour has upset people. i have never intentionally set out to upset anyone. i work with thousands of brilliant civil servants every single day and we work together, day in, day out, to deliver on the agenda of this government and i'm absolutely sorry for anyone that i've upset. the report said priti patel had legitimately not always felt

supported at the home office and that there was no evidence she had been aware of the impact of her behaviour. but the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial standards, sir alex allan, concluded she had breached the ministerial code even if unintentionally. borisjohnson disagreed and, as prime minister, has the final say. the system does make the prime ministerjudge and jury. but in the past, prime ministers have always acted when there has been a breach of the ministerial code and that's why, in a sense, this is a much more serious moment than previous ones, because the prime minister seems to have gone against what would have happened in the past and that does mean that you wonder what the value of the ministerial code is. now a whitehall source says that sir alex allan had resisted pressure to make the report more palatable. a separate source told the bbc there were discussions in the summer between sir alex and borisjohnson about the challenges the report presented.

a downing street spokesman said that, as you would expect, the prime minister spoke to sir alex allan to further his understanding of the report. but that sir alex's conclusions were entirely his own. jessica parker, bbc news. 0ur political correspondent, helen catt says this all comes after a difficult time for the prime minister in recent weeks. this was a week when downing street wa nted this was a week when downing street wanted to move on because the week previously there had been huge disruption behind the closed door of number10. it disruption behind the closed door of number 10. it resulted disruption behind the closed door of number10. it resulted in disruption behind the closed door of number 10. it resulted in the end of the week, of borisjohnson‘s to senior aides are leaving the government, dominic cummings and lee cain. this week was supposed to be about big holiday in —— policy announcements, a green strategy, investment in the military. this has been overshadowed by a political row at the beginning of the week in response to comments on how deeply

she was going in scotland made by borisjohnson she was going in scotland made by boris johnson and he she was going in scotland made by borisjohnson and he has been hampered by staying inside downing street because he has been in contact with someone with coronavirus. and this week we have the findings of this result which we re the findings of this result which were unedifying and controversy over the government was not respond to it. the premise is obviously involved in the 620, which is kind of happening virtually. we will talk about that later in this bulletin. but one of his predecessors, david cameron picking up mrjohnson's remarks about not retreating from the world, re—engaging with the world, accused him of retreating on foreign aid. that is a concern for the government how to establish the uk on the world stage, we are about to leave the single union, the customs market and the single union. pa rt customs market and the single union. part of that big investment in defence bending of the uk this week, that has been about how the uk is viewed on the global stage. we have this warning from david cameron who isa this warning from david cameron who is a recent predecessor of boris johnson, someone he knows well

saying, hang on, do not give way when it comes to the importance of power that comes with global aid and it would be letting any borders, i think is what he said. i think that is likely to give him some food for thought —— it would be letting down the protest. former prime ministers david cameron and tony blair have warned borisjohnson that cutting the uk's overseas aid budget would undermine the uk chancellor rishi sunak has promised what he calls an "infrastructu re revolution", to ensure all regions get their fair share of funding for large scale projects. he will publish the government's national infrastructure strategy next week, which will include changes to the way billions of pounds is allocated for programmes including flood defences, transport schemes and faster broadband. at least eight people have been killed in rocket attacks on the afghan capital. officials say 1a rockets slammed into parts of central and north kabul. 0ur afghanistan correspondent, secunder kermani is following the story. video shared online shows terrified students at a girls' school screaming and running in panic with the sound of

explosions behind them. i've also been looking at cctv footage from outside a popular bakery showing the moment that rockets landed just outside there, sending passers by and customers sprawling to the ground, reallyjust underlining how these tragedies are occurring as people are trying to live their everyday, normal lives. now, the taliban have denied responsibility for this attack, but levels of violence in the country, across the country have been intensifying over recent weeks in spite of ongoing, but slow—moving peace negotiations in doha. the us secretary of state, mike pompeo, is actually expected there today. he's expected to hold meetings with both the afghan and taliban negotiating teams. we, of course, heard earlier this week an announcement that us troop numbers would be further withdrawn by january next year by the time thatjoe biden is taking over as president of the united states. there's been some suggestion that these peace negotiations

in doha, that the two sides are on the verge of finally agreeing to the preliminary issues that they've been discussing so far. but as of yet, they haven't begun talking about the substantive issues, the ceasefire or a power sharing arrangement. certainly for many ordinary afghans, there feels a real disconnect between the violence they're suffering and living through on the ground and these talks taking place and are going at quite a slow pace in doha. they began back in september. and as i say, it's only now that we're hearing suggestions that they're about to finalize the preliminary issues. it's important to remember as well, though, that as part of the us of the us—taliban agreement that was signed back in february, setting out a timetable for us troop withdrawal. it was never formally agreed, it seems, that the taliban would stop doing attacks on the afghan security forces.

it was hoped that that would be the case, but that certainly hasn't materialised. there is, of course, alliance thought that the taliban believe that the violence they carry out on the battlefield gives them more leverage on the negotiating table. but, of course, it's ordinary afghans who suffer the most and attacks like this today, well, we know the taliban are saying they weren't responsible. potentially there are there are other groups like the islamic state group who are responsible. so, you know, the situation for ordinary afghans is really dire. the 620 summit of the world's biggest economies is under way and its unprecedented for two reasons. it's all taking place online because of the pandemic and it's being hosted by saudi arabia for the first time. the first time a middle east country has a chair the first time a middle east country hasa chair20. the first time a middle east country has a chair 20. —— chaired the 620. that's controversial: its only two years after the world was horrified by the brutal murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi in the saudi consulate in istanbul.

the prime minister, borisjohnson will take part he is calling for urgent action on climate change and the pandemic. 0ur chief international correspondent, lyse doucet, is in riyadh for us. i asked her how saudi arabia was coping with the lack of face—to—face meetings. well, as i'm speaking to you, there's a virtual press conference going on with the saudi minister of investment and he is saying that this virtual summit, all these virtual meetings and there have been thousands of them in the past months during this pandemic, will be a test of the 620. the 620, of course, represents something like 85% of the world's economic output, the world's most powerful economies. if they can't deal with this pandemic and deal with it virtually, then who can? but, of course, for the kingdom, it is a disappointment, even though they're not saying this publicly. when saudi arabia took on the presidency last year, they thought this would be a moment for them to shine on the world stage when all of the world's great powers descended on riyadh and you'd have, you know, photo ops and glittering

palaces, important conversations in the corridors, and now it's going to be like like for all of us on screens in our homes or in our offices. let me ask you, how helpful is it in some ways for leaders, it's coming so soon after the kashagoggi murder and the final end of the legal proceedings against those accused of being responsible for his killing. this doesn't involve them having to shake hands with the man who has been accused of having ultimate responsibility, the crown prince of saudi arabia. the murder of jamal khashoggi still casts a dark shadow over the kingdom. that's why you've had calls for a boycott of this summit hosted by saudi arabia by international human rights groups, by the european parliament, who've called notjust for an independent international investigation into his killing, but also are calling for the release of some

of the dozens of detainees, activists, academics, journalists held in saudi prisons. the saudi authorities want to say, we're changing, we are dealing with these problems on our own terms and the fact that no 620 leader is boycotting this summit is proof, indeed, that we are moving away from this past. i spoke to the minister of state forforeign affairs. he said the killing ofjamal khashoggi was tragic. we've investigated. we've held people accountable and we don't want it to happen again. they want to draw a line under it. the line has not yet been drawn, but this summit is proof that the kingdom is able to move on in some way. the brother of princess diana says the investigation into the bbc‘s panorama interview with his sister, needs to be allowed to "examine every aspect" of the programme. the broadcaster has appointed a retired judge, lord dyson to investigate how the journalist martin bashir obtained the interview 25 years ago.

but earl spencer said he's not satisfied with the parameters of the inquiry. the bbc insists the terms of the review are suitably wide—ranging. the nhs has started setting up coronavirus vaccination centres across the uk with the hope of getting all adults vaccinated by the spring. with infection rates dropping and plateauing in all four nations, the government has officially asked the medical regulator to asses the pfizer—biontech vaccine for uk use. anna 0'neill reports. this is the ray of light is described by the health secretary. millions of doses of this of this pfizer biontech vaccine against covid—19 could be heading to britain as early as next month, and the nhs is getting ready for a mass vaccination programme. we will be ready to start the vaccination next month with the bulk of the roll—out in the new year. we are heading in the right direction.

yesterday, another 511 people died within 28 days of catching covid—19. but there may be signs that the r rate, or infection rate, is flattening. in the latest 0ffice for national statistics survey, one in 80 people of england were thought to have coronavirus similar to the week before. in scotland, it was one person in 155 and rates were levelling off. in wales, it was one person in 165, with rates decreasing over the last two weeks. in northern ireland, rates have been decreasing over four weeks, and one in 135 people are infected. the deputy chief medical officer for england is cautiously optimistic. 0verall, clearly, it is an improving picture. these are very early signs that the epidemic is beginning to level, but we should be cautious

about interpreting that, and please everyone remember that it just takes a few seconds to create new infections. christmas family get—togethers may still be in doubt, but some restrictions are being lifted today. the government has changed lockdown rules in england so that christmas tree farms and sellers can start trading from this morning. anna 0'neill, bbc news. in the uk, the professional footballers' association has called for heading the ball to be reduced in training sessions, as a matter of urgency, to protect players from the risk of dementia. dr willie stewart led the research into brain injuries last year that showed former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to die of dementia than people of the same age range in the general population. he thinks this is just one of the steps that need to be taken. i think this is a long overdue move and one that i would welcome. i think that while the debate may

rage on about the direct link to heading, i think on the balance of probabilities, heading is an issue that needs to be addressed quite urgently and so this is a good move. what did your research find? i mean, i quoted there the likelihood. what was causing that increased risk? could it actually be very specifically tied to heading or was it related more generally to football? no, i think it's important to point out that the research that we've done to this date was reallyjust trying to answer the question of was there a problem with degenerative diseases, dementias in former football players? because we heard these very strong stories from families like the astle family bringing forward their stories of dementia and football and, of course, we know the 1966 world cup squad. so this was reallyjust to answer the question, is there a problem? it didn't really go into what might be that problem, but there's plenty of other research that we have done looking at the brains of former footballers that shows a pathology link to head injuries. in other sports, the same problem

between a link to head injuries. so i think it's taking that evidence in total that suggests really we need to be thinking about head injuries and head impacts in football. this may be a daft question and you'll tell me if it is — what if people just wore headgear? it's not a daft question. you know, this is the kind of questions that people raise. and the reality is that you've got fantastic headgear already built in — it's your skull and the scalp and the scalp tells you if something hurts. and as a way to stop you banging your head, the online retailer amazon has agreed to postpone its annual black friday discounts in france, after coming under pressure from the government. french book shops have been badly hit by a second national lockdown, and feared losing key pre—christmas sales if the promotion went ahead as planned next friday. lucy williamson, reports.

wanderers were always welcome at shakespeare and company, the iconic english language bookshop usually has a few aspiring writers sleeping among its shelves at night. it looks...it‘s empty and a bit of a mess. coronavirus sent them packing in march, along with 80% of the shop's revenue. this book shop, like many others, is now operating as an online warehouse. it's quite a long process because we have so many customisations like stamping the book or putting it in a bookmark or even a spray of perfume. amazon, it's not, but it's helped them stay afloat. we had perhaps ten sales online a day pre—covid and now, you know, we've just recently had 7,000, so we're trying to scramble to try and find a system for that. but it's, as i said earlier, it's a bit like managing a startup right now. this is the competition for online sales. while book shops here

struggle to survive, amazon's sales have risen by 40% to 50% during lockdown. the culture minister and the paris mayor are among those now urging people not to buy from the company. but its local chief says it's misunderstood. translation: amazon accounts for about 1% of retail in france. it offers tens of thousands of companies the chance to sell their products. that's the company we are. we are not the big, mean company people describe. since coronavirus began, amazon has weathered walk—outs by french workers, protests against new warehouses and from next month, a new french tax on digital giants. this is about more than revenues for the french economy, it's about what to value and what to protect — a cultural war as much as an economic one. france has been late to embrace online trade, and when lockdown began, many shops didn't have working websites set up.

translation: we have it in our blood, in our genes to protect the weakest. it's always very important to us when a digital platform arrives and business close. we protect our small businesses, perhaps sometimes a bit too much. sylvia's customers are fiercely loyal. there it is. but almost everyone here buys from amazon too — quicker with better service, says one. books are slow to write, slow to publish, slow to read, sylva says maybe it's ok for us to be slower to. the south korean k—pop band, bts, have launched a second album — dedicated to life in lockdown. the seven—piece boy—band will perform their latest single from the album for the american music awards on sunday. it's all music to mark lobel‘s ears. even a multi—million dollar boy bands find lockdown a struggle at

times. days cooped up in their pyjamas, reminiscing about their legion of fans. through this new album, their message to them as life goes on. at a socially distant launch in seoul, they sat down to reflect on the roller—coaster pandemic life. translation: ourjoy of life, but... with could release a song of dynamite and that was unexpected and topped the us billboard chart, realising our goal. # light it up like dynamite. dynamite, seen by a record 100 million youtube viewers in august and 2a hours offers optimism on the album that life is sweet as honey.

damp and elsewhere with tracks around a loneliness and accepting when things are not always 0k. around a loneliness and accepting when things are not always ok. they always deliver in terms of their music because at 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 standing on social media, but through that, it is the fans that drive a lot of good and a lot of positivity from the influence. for example, bts themselves had a $1 million, dilated $1 million to black lives matter and then the bts army match that within 24 hours. as any popster will tell you, it is not ideal playing to an empty stadium, especially after the router they had planned, but lockdown gave them all the free time to record this new album. as for the reviewers, they are mixed. the album

cove rs ma ny reviewers, they are mixed. the album covers many genres and while some think they have not taken enough risks, others appraise them for providing 28 minutes of comfort for millions. for now, they are continuing to rewrite the rule book on how to engage fans. and passing the traditional k—pop bubble by each developing their own skills as at the mega band continues to make history on the world stage. hello there. we have a change to cooler weather conditions taking place this weekend but before the cooler air arrives across england and wales, we have a lot of cloud to come through the day today, so clouds like these pretty widespread. the cooler air will be arriving behind this cold front, that's been bringing rain earlier today across scotland and northern ireland and as that continues to push southward through the weekend, you will notice those temperatures dropping away with the cooler air last to arrive across the far south of england during sunday. here is the cold front, bringing rain to northern

ireland and scotland. it will tend to turn lighter and patchy as it works its way across northern england and into wales as well. a lot of cloud to the south, still an occasional spit of rain in the air. for northern ireland, scotland and the far north of england, it brightens up a bit, some showers, still some strong it brightens up, but with some showers, still some strong winds, those winds could gust to around 50 or 60 miles an hour into shetland through the rest of the day today. mild in the south of england and wales, 12 to 13 degrees quite widely. cool air spreading in scotland, northern ireland and the far north of england as well. through saturday evening and overnight, the cold front pushes southwards taking the cloud and the light rain and drizzle with it. the skies clear for a time across wales and the midlands with temperatures dropping away here. further showers for scotland and northern ireland, still with some fairly strong winds and certainly feeling cold given the strength of those winds overnight as well. 0n into sunday, a day of sunshine and showers again for scotland and northern ireland.

much brighter weather for northern england, wales, the midlands and parts of east anglia with some and that sunnier weather should arrive across the far south of england probably later in the day. temperatures dropping, highs of seven to 10 celsius on sunday. the cooler air doesn't last too long because on monday, the next area of low pressure moves in, warm front pushes across the uk, winds turn to a south—westerly direction and that said on monday morning, we start off on a cold note, probably some patches of frost around, as that milder air works in, we see some low cloud, hill fog patches across wales and the pennines with some damp weather here. more general rain for scotland and northern ireland. turning milder in the south—west, 13 in plymouth but still quite chilly across the north—east of scotland. into tuesday, the milder air spreads right the way across the country 00:28:47,282 --> 2147483051:51:08,356 before it turns colder 2147483051:51:08,356 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 again mid week.