this is bbc news, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm mike embley. ready to lead the world: joe biden unveils the team that will shape us foreign policy under his presidency. its under his presidency. 18 that reflects the fact that its 18 that reflects the fact that america is back, ready to lead the world, not retreat from its, and once again sit at the head of the table. —— it's a team. christmas gets the go—ahead across the uk. families can celebrate together after all four nations agree on a plan. and the soldier's best friend — the hero dog awarded the canine un concerns about possible war crimes as ethiopian‘s army threatens an assault on the capital of northern tigray. and the soldier's best friend — the hero dog awarded the canine

version of the victoria cross for saving british service men and women's lives in afghanistan. hello, and welcome. "america is back, ready to lead the world." the words of president—elect joe biden on tuesday as he introduced the men and women he'd like to steer us foreign policy. one by one they took to the microphone to set out a global worldview that differs shaply from president trump's america—first approach. he still hasn't conceded the election, but the transition is gathering pace. mr biden has now been given access to the white house intelligence briefing. here's our north america editor, jon sopel. two turkeys, corn and cob, and there can only be one winner. one could end up on the white house dinner table this thanksgiving, the other will be pardoned to roam free.

corn, i hereby grant you a full pardon. so corn lives to fight another day. if only all head to head battles connected to the white house were that easy to resolve. the president today sounding defensive... we send our love to every member of the armed forces and the law enforcement heroes risking their lives to keep america safe, to keep america great — and as i say, america first — it shouldn't go away from that, america first. but as more and more key states are certifying their results — last night, michigan, today, pennsylvania and nevada — republican leaders have been urging donald trump to accept the inevitable. something he's reluctant to do, though legal routes have all but disappeared. just as president richard nixon and watergate gave us the "non—denial denial", so donald trump has given us the "non—concession concession". he is vowing to fight on, but he's running out of road, and all the time, joe biden

is taking the steps that will ensure he becomes the president on january the 20th. and joe biden is forging ahead. today, formally unveiling to people who'll play the key foreign policy and national security roles in his administration. it's a team that reflects the fact that america is back — ready to lead the world, not retreat from it, once again sit at the head of the table — ready to confront our adversaries and not reject our allies. there has been one unexpected flurry of activity today. with no notice, the president announced he'd be giving a briefing. would this be the formal concession? the offer of congratulations to joe biden? no, mr trump came to take credit for the stock market reaching a record high and then walked out afterjust one minute. jon sopel, bbc news at the white house. introducing key nominees to his cabinet, the us president—elect, joe biden,

has said it would be a team to reunite america and to re—establish its global and moral leadership. we still have a lot more appointments to make. i want this country to be united. the purpose of our administration is once again reuniting. we can't keep this political dialogue going, it has to end. should we expect an announcement? no. not ever come or not soon? not soon. mr biden was also asked about this plans for the mass roll—out of the covid—19 vaccine. i think talking, as you may know, i have talked to, i have had a zoom with the leading governors of oui’ country, had a zoom with the leading governors of our country, five republicans in five democrats. we talked extensively about the need to co—operate and get the vaccine into places where you can actually get vaccinated, and their ideas of who they think should go first, i think we should be focusing on obviously the doctors, the nurses, those people who are

the first responders, i think we should also be focusing on being able to open schools as rapidly as we can. i think it can be done safely. joe biden speaking to nbc news. the bbc‘s nomia iqbal is in washington for us. the biden administration of course has an enormous job to do on the pandemic, and the vaccine rollout. let's talk about the foreign policy at the moment, this idea that america is back. he has a big job to do at home on that, because we know that millions of americans don't actually want that. they voted for mr trump's isolationist america first policy, they don't want america leading the world. that's right. joe biden has certainly nailed his catchphrase of air, "america is back", a big contrast to, as we heard in jon's report, donald trump again emphasising today, america first. joe biden, you know, today he talked about how one of his core beliefs is that when you work with your allies you can tackle anything. as you

rightly pointed out, donald trump has huge support here. let's not forget he has won more than 75 million votes this election. yes, joe biden‘s tallies coming up to 80 million, but there is still huge support for mr trump. i think it is fair to say he is probably one of the most successful defeated presidents, in many ways. so it is interesting to see how this biden administration will shape up. it is interesting, in that interview with lester holt he was asked, he was asked the question, are you just trying to create a third president obama term? and he flinched at that and said, no amount of course the reason he was asked a question is because a lot of the appointees he has announced served in the obama — biden administration of 20 —— of 2008- 2016. he did administration of 20 —— of 2008— 2016. he did say he wa nted 2008— 2016. he did say he wanted to try to unify the country in one of those steps could possibly be appointing a republican to his team, but he is making any announcements on that yet. nomia, some of those

appointments have to be approved by the senate, don't they? so as ever, the senate is crucial. that's right. some of them don't. his chief of staff does not, the climate change and boy in which he has appointed john kerry doesn't. but others, yes, they do. at the moment, the senate races have still not completed, because we are still waiting for the georgia senate race, which is due to come back in january. the democrats will be hoping to get both seats, so that they can have a number of 50 senators, which would allow them to break even, because of course kamala harris is the vp would be the tiebreaker in that situation. butjoe biden will be banking on the fact that as a politician who has served in the us for nearly half a century, he is really good friends with a lot of republicans, and actually, he was asked earlier in the week, what if republicans block your nominees? and he said, are you

kidding me? ithink nominees? and he said, are you kidding me? i think he is hoping that in the end he can get republicans on side. nomia, thank you very much for that stop with just a month to go before christmas, western governments stop christmas, western governments are weighing up just how far to relax coronavirus restrictions to allow families to get together. here in the uk, ministers from england, scotland, wales and northern ireland have agreed on broad nationwide rules. they said they needed to find a balance between allowing people to meet loved ones, and the risks involved. vicky young reports. preparations are under way across all four nations of the united kingdom for a christmas that won't be like any other. coronavirus means that for months we have all had to live with regulations telling us who we can see and where. for a few days, the rules will be relaxed. this year christmas will be different. many of us are longing to spend time with family and friends, irrespective of our faith or background, and yet we can't afford to throw caution to the wind.

the virus doesn't know it's christmas and we must all be careful. many will welcome the move. but what about places like loughborough where there's been a spike in coronavirus cases in recent days? well, i think i'd rather it didn't happen because i think we need, if we keep safe now, hopefully in the new year we can move forward. i think it's inevitable because people would do it regardless of whether they were allowed to or not. so yeah, it is the only choice they could make. diwali hasjust happened, they have not been able to celebrate, muslims have not been able to celebrate eid and the jewish community haven't been able to celebrate either, so ijust don't think it's very fair. i think it will create more covid cases. the hospitals are already under pressure. i don't see why they should be put under any more, just by letting us have that week of christmas. detailed guidance for scotland and wales will be issued on thursday but the broad message is take care. we are asking people to keep well within these limits

because there is a risk to households coming together, and therefore if you feel you can get through this christmas without seeing other people and if you can see people for one day and not across five days, then try to limit your interaction. this is not an instruction to travel, it's not an instruction to meet with other people. people should still use a sense of responsibility, should still ask themselves whether what they are doing is keeping themselves and other people safe. northern ireland has been given a slightly longer window, from 22nd until 28th december, to allow time to travel between the nations. we recognise that for a lot of people this is an oasis, if you like, that is coming up and they are looking forward to it. and of course it is good to get together for many people who have suffered from mental health issues over the year, they feel isolated during this time. the plans mean people can get together in a bigger group for a few days. but there will still be limits. you can gather in a private home or a place of worship. but most people still won't be

able to go to the pub or to a restaurant together. there is, though, flexibility in other areas. children whose parents are separated will be able to see both of them over the festive period. and then there's the question of enforcement. at times the police have been accused of being heavy—handed. but they're playing down the chances of penalty fines while the crackers are being pulled. i will not be tasking my officers to be knocking on people's doors on christmas day and interrupting the turkey because people may or may not have breached it. i'm sure that is not what is behind the government's thinking. so we will see what the rules and regulations are that come out but we will continue to police it in a very pragmatic way, christmas day or not. many will seize the opportunity to celebrate christmas with others. but political leaders across the uk are urging caution. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. millions of americans are already travelling home to celebrate thanksgiving, despite warnings from health officials abour rising coronavirus cases and

deaths. for three straight days over the weekend, around 1 million people passed through american airports — that's around 50% of the people who travelled last year. but, its's still the highest amount we've seen since the start of the pandemic in mid—march. sunday is projected to be the busiest travel day of the holiday period. the us surgeon—general, jerome adams, pleaded with americans to grasp the severity of the situation. iam asking i am asking americans, i am begging you, hold onjust a little bit longer. keep thanksgiving and the celebrations are small and smart this year. that is the surgeon general. many epidemiologists are warning about the consequences gatherings might have in the coming weeks, and how they could become a potential threat to christmas celebrations. dr syra madad is the senior director of pathogen preparedness and response in new york city. ido i do think we're going to see an icu christmas, and what that means is that if we don't have a zoom thanksgiving we're going to an icu christmas. we are seeing many people getting infected, millions of people already on the move together for the holiday season, and we

are absolutely going to see more outbreaks. you know, just around the dining table there may be super spreading events. so if you're going to get together with your loved ones, make sure you do it outdoors with your masks on as much as possible. you know, keep your distance. certainly get tested. a test is not a green pass to go ahead and freely mingle without a mask on. it will tell you if you have covid—19, which means you should not be getting together at all, you need to isolate, but if it is negative you want to continue to wear a mask, so it is really important to add on these preventative measures, and we certainly don't recommend this, but millions of people will do it. let's get some of the day's other news. the french president, emmanuel macron, has announced a slight easing of the country's second coronavirus lockdown, which will see shops re—open from saturday. mr macron said the country had passed the peak of the second wave. more restrictions will be eased from the 15th of december for the festive period. italy reported 853 covid—related deaths on tuesday, up from 630 the day before. it's the highest daily toll since march 28. the northern region

of lombardy, centred on italy's financial capital milan, remains the hardest hit area. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: how a military dog who charged through enemy gunfire to save british soldiers in afghanistan is being rewarded for his bravery. president kennedy was shot down and died almost immediately. the murder ofjohn kennedy is a disaster for the whole free world. he caught the imagination of the world. the first of a new generation of leaders. margaret thatcher is resigning as leader of the conservative party and prime minister. before leaving number 10 to see the queen, she told her cabinet, "it's a funny old world." angela merkel is germany's first woman chancellor, easily securing the majority she needed.

attempts to fly a hot air balloon had to be abandoned after a few minutes but nobody seemed to mind very much. as one local comic put it, "it's not hot air we need, it's hard cash." cuba has declared nine days of mourning following the death of fidel castro at the age of 90. castro developed close ties with the soviet union in the 1960s. it was an alliance that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war, with the cuban missile crisis. this is bbc news, our main headline: joe biden has unveiled the team that will shape us foreign policy under his presidency, saying "america is back, ready to lead the world". let's stay with that story now. we can now speak to dr frances z brown who is a senior fellow with carnegie's democracy, conflict, and governance

program, who previousy worked at the white house national security council. you were working with avril haines who is now president—electjoe biden's nominee for the united states top intelligence post. what can we expect? ms haynes' appointment as historic, it is the first time this role has been held by a woman, it was created during the george w bush administration so it's historic in that way but i would says she has also had correctly well qualified, so i think we can expect someone who is ready to hit the ground running she has served at the highest level of the national security policy making apparatus, she was the deputy national security adviser during the end of the obama administration but then she has also served at the highest levels of the intelligence community, she was the deputy of the cia so this means she understands very well both sides of this coin and how

accurate intelligence should, in the best case, drive good policy—making. we have had some insta nces policy—making. we have had some instances in the us where, instead, u nfortu nately we instances in the us where, instead, unfortunately we have had politics drive intelligence, most noticeably in the run—up to the iraq war but also frankly during the trump administration where there has been a series of very politically oriented director of national intelligence, so i think with ms haines we will not see this at all, we will see someone who absolutely wa nts to ta ke see someone who absolutely wants to take truth to power. i would also say that she is very close with the president—elect, she has worked with him for a long time, she was a staff of his when he was still in the senate so this also bodes well, they have got a long—standing relationship. and thenjust they have got a long—standing relationship. and then just on a personal note, from my observations, she is always the ha rd est observations, she is always the hardest working person in the room, she is often the smartest but never the loudest. she has a good manager, she is a capable manager, she is a kind person which i think is important and deeply thoughtful and analytic, so i think if

anyone is ready to hit the ground running it is ms haines, andi ground running it is ms haines, and i think that is good because the challenges are very grave, to what the team will be facing. and just briefly if you can, doctor brown, what are the main challenges? so this is something that i think the team will be learning more now that they are able to get the president's daily brief to be number one, that he has made it clear that the coronavirus is a national security risk. i think the team will also be seized by the team will also be seized by the activities of adverse areas, thinking about what else might be in that intelligent weaving that they will be getting, i think, weaving that they will be getting, ithink, no weaving that they will be getting, i think, no doubt there's intelligence updates on there's intelligence updates on the north korean weapons programme, the chinese military, so i think there is a wide range of challenges that probably they will be facing and now with their team in place they can begin to make their plans. can you give us a sense of the different approaches of the biden administration and the trump

administration? absolutely, the 0bama administration? absolutely, the obama administration, when it came to intelligence and honestly when it came to all forms of information was deeply analytic and i would say that president obama was a voracious consumer of intelligence, of analysis, and then really liked to talk over all considerations, all options. president trump is famously not a reader, not a deeply analytic character, he likes to go with his gut and i think when it comes to making sober national security policy, my personal view, being deeply analytic and doing all the reading is probably a better way to go. i think the president—elect, president—elect biden is, by all accounts somebody who is a lwa ys all accounts somebody who is always reading those briefings during the obama administration andi during the obama administration and i think he will be ready to jump and i think he will be ready to jump right in as well. very interesting to talk to you, thank you. the united nations has expressed concern about possible war crimes ahead

of a threat by the ethiopian army to start an assault on the northern tigray region's capital. fighting between ethiopia's central government and forces in tigray has been going on for almost three weeks. ethiopia's human rights commission has accused a youth group from the tigray region of being behind a massacre earlier this month in mai kadra, in which it says more than 600 civilians were killed. david campa nale reports. a day of reckoning for ethiopia's tigray province. government forces have advanced deep into the region. the leader of the tigray people's liberation front has admitted that towns have been captured. federal forces say their artillery and tanks are closing in on the regional capital, mekelle, and are just 60 km away. on sunday, the ethiopian army said there will be no mercy for its residents when their soldiers encircle the city of half a million people. tigray‘s leaders reject claims their forces are close to defeat,

and say they will not surrender. the united nations is increasingly alarmed. the highly aggressive rhetoric on both sides regarding the fight for mekelle is dangerously provocative, and it risks placing already vulnerable and frightened civilians in grave danger. evidence of the price civilians are paying. these are the graves of some 600 people that ethiopia's state—appointed human rights commission said were massacred earlier this month. it accuses a tigrayan youth group of stabbing, bludgeoning, and burning to death non—tigrayan residents in the town of mai kadr, with the collusion of local forces. more than 40,000 people have now fled across the border into sudan. the un is calling on all sides to give clear and unambiguous orders to theirforces to spare civilians. david campanale, bbc news.

the authorities in thailand have revived a controversial law against criticising the royal family to counter months of protests which have increasingly called for reform of the monarchy. a leading activist has been summoned to face charges under the lese—majeste law — others are also expected to be charged. the legislation hasn't been used for three years. a military dog — who charged through enemy gunfire to save the lives of british soldiers in afghanistan — has been awarded the animal equivalent of the victoria cross. during a raid — the dog tackled a gunman and was hit by bullets in both back legs. after losing one of his paws as a result, he became the first uk military dog, to get custom—made prosthetics. tim muffett reports. kuno, the pdsa dickin medal. military honours for a remarkable dog. at woolwich barracks in south—east london, four—year—old kuno was honoured today for his actions in afghanistan last year.

he was supporting uk forces when they came under attack from al-qaeda extremists. he's been honoured because he performed exceptionally on the battlefield. exceptional courage, exceptional loyalty, devotion to duty, he did a fantasticjob, saved lives when it mattered. the ministry of defence have asked that kuno's handler at the time remains anonymous. i moved over to him and he was hobbling around, and he was clearly in a bad way. his paw was all mangled up, it didn't look good. so we bandaged that up. he had what's called a through and through on his thigh, so the bullet had gone straight through his thigh and out the other side. you can see kuno's prosthetic limbs here which allow him to be mobile. he was actually the first serving military dog to be fitted with them. lots of challenges, varied challenges, quite severe injuries, combination of injuries that were difficult to manage. individually they would have been very achievable but as a combination, they were challenging.

he is a brilliant patient, it was quite clear he was going to take it in his stride and stood the best chance of a full recovery. the pdsa dickin medal for animal bravery was introduced in 1943. as well as dogs, horses, pigeons and even a cat have previously been honoured. for this four—year—old belgian malinois, retirement in dorset now beckons. kuno has certainly earned it. tim muffett, bbc news. beyonce has received the most nominations for america's top music awards, the grammys. she has nine, many of them for this track: music "black parade" was released injune in repsonse to the killing by a white police officer of george floyd. its lyrics refer to police brutality and the black lives matter protests. her nominations increase her

historic lead as the grammys' most—nominated female artist ever. i think she is tying now with sir paul mccartney for the most nominations of all time. the old saying one man's trash is another one's treasure is especially true for this group of hikers in south korea. the group called clean hikers is dedicated to picking up trash from mountain parks and turning the collection into art. their latest creation is a collage of a crying cat tagged with the slogan "save the world". other works include images of a fish, bird, butterfly and a boy. after the works are created and documented, the garbage is thrown away in proper rubbish bins or is taken to be recycled. that is just about it for now, there is much more for you on there is much more for you on the bbc website. a reminder of our top story: joe biden has unveiled the team that will shape us

foreign policy under his presidency, saying "america is back, ready to lead the world". we will have more on that to come later, thank you so much for watching. hello again. we had some big weather contrasts across the uk on tuesday, england and wales, a lot of dry weather with some sunny spells breaking through the cloud, some fine sunsets to end the day particularly for eastern areas, but it was north wales that was the real mildest spot in the country, 15 celsius, mild weather across most areas. contrast that with the rain that just wouldn't stop across scotland and northern ireland, thanks to this weather front, this cold front, and as this pushes east over the next couple of days, colder air will be arriving across all parts of the country. back to what we have at the moment, that weather front is still bringing some splashes of rain across wales and western england. it will very gradually move eastwards, bringing rain into parts of the midlands and central and southern

england before long. a few showers for northern ireland and scotland, otherwise with clear spells, cold, might see 1—2 areas with a touch of frost. 0ur weather front continues to push eastwards, but it gets stretched out between these two areas of low pressure — one in scandinavia and one in spain and portugal. so the front will weaken very quickly as it slowly edges its way eastwards through wednesday, the rain becoming increasingly light and patchy as it dribbles its way across the midlands into east anglia and southeast england. there's no great rainfall amounts for these areas. the mild airjust hanging on across the east. 111—15 celsius in the very warmest spots but further north and west, it's much colder. temperatures down into single figures. following that, wednesday night, we will see patches of frost developing and maybe a few areas of fog to start the day on thursday. thursday looks like being a pretty decent day. yes, it will be cooler than it has been of late, but most areas will be dry and we should see fairly lengthy spells of sunshine developing. it will be cool for the time of the year, temperatures generally into single figures, just 5 celsius in glasgow,

maybe 7 in belfast. then it looks like we will see some more mist and fog patches developing as we head into friday morning along with some frost. so for some of us, friday promises to be quite a slow start to the day and quite murky, some of those mist and fog patches may linger all day. where that happens, temperatures will be in the low single figures, but even in the brighter spots on friday, it looks like being a particularly chilly day for this stage of november. the weekend, mostly dry, but we will continue with the cool weather conditions, with frost and some morning mist and fog.

this is bbc news, the headlines: joe biden has unveiled the team that will shape us foreign policy under his presidency, saying "america is back, ready to lead the world"." the biden team's global worldview differs shaply from president trump's america—first approach. mr trump still hasn't conceded the election, but the transition is gathering pace. christmas has been given the go—ahead across the uk, with families being told they can celebrate together. ministers from england, scotland, wales and northern ireland have agreed on broad nationwide rules, which struck a balance between allowing people to meet loved ones