this is bbc news, the headlines: president trump says he will leave the white house if the electoral college certifiesjoe biden's victory when it meets next month. welcome to bbc news. the comment is the closest i'm lewis vaughan jones. mr trump has come to our top stories: acknowledging his election defeat, although he continues donald trump says to insist on his he will leave the white house unsubstantiated claims ifjoe biden is formally of massive fraud. confirmed as the next us president by the the argentine football legend, diego maradona, electoral college. has been buried on the outskirts of buenos aires, fans line the streets next to his parents. of buenos aires to say goodbye his cortege travelled to argentinian football through the streets hero maradona on the way to the cemetery where he's been after the 60 year—old had been lying in state where thousands buried next to his parents. queued to file past his coffin. ethiopian refugees mass on the border with sudan the ethiopian government as the government launches its final offensive says it is distributing aid against rebel forces in tigray. to people displaced by the fighting in tigray, hours after it launched its final offensive there are currently over against the dissident 60 million coronavirus cases leadership there. worldwide but several vaccines it also said it had established now seem to offer real hope. we take a look at when, a humanitarian corridor, although this hasn't been where, and who. verified by the united nations.

hello, welcome to the programme. president trump has made comments that seem to come the closest so far to conceding the election held three weeks ago. while insisting on his unsubstantiated claim that the poll was fraudulent, he said he would leave the white house if the electoral college certifiesjoe biden‘s victory. let's have a listen. it's going to be a hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud. so as to whether or not i can get this apparatus moving this quickly — because time is not on our side. everything else is on our side. facts are on our side. this was a massive fraud. this should never take place in this country. we are like a third world country. no, i can't say that at all. i think it is a possibility —

they're trying to...look — between you people... crosstalk. don't talk to me that way. you are just a lightweight. don't talk to me. i am the president of the united states, don't ever talk to the president that way. fine, i am going to go with another question, go ahead. reporter: so, if the electoral college does elect president—elect joe biden, are you not going to leave this building? just so you — certainly i will. certainly i will, and you know that. but i think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of january. a lot of things. daniel lippman is the white house reporter for politico. i asked him if the president was right when he said that "facts are on his side". they are not. and the courts have ruled against him almost 35—1 in terms of losing court cases. most republicans secretaries of state —

the officials that regulate the election — say that the election was very secure, there was not a massive fraud and the trump campaign has been unable to show actual evidence of mail—in ballots being fraudulent on a massive scale that would lead to a result that would be in favour of donald trump. so that is a complete falsehood. given that falsity, he did say that he would leave, if the electoral college votes forjoe biden and we expect that certainly. is that something that his supporters will reject, be angry at or is the political class welcoming those comments? i think it isjust acknowledging reality and his supporters will probably think to themselves that we can fight another day, run in 2024 againstjoe biden or kamala harris and that is a way to revenge his loss.

most of his supporters think that biden won. only 3% of people according to one reuters poll think think that trump won. so his supporters, except for the most hard—core, they acknowledge that biden won by millions of votes. and by a healthy majority in the electoral college. how much damage do you think this is doing, having someone undermine the legitimacy of the votes? it is definitely damaging in terms of republicans on capitol hill being slow to acknowledge biden as the winner and so when he comes into office in two months‘ time they will not be as inclined to work with him because their supporters will think that he is illegitimate in some way, even if they acknowledge that he won. they will not want to help them in any part of his agenda, especially when the need to repair the economy and beat back coronavirus is so

important these days. but i think in a few years this may be washed over and america — remember after 2008, many people said that america would be permanently damaged by george w bush and barack 0bama was able to bring back the reputation. the argentine football star, diego maradona, has been buried next to his parents on the outskirts of buenos aires. it followed scenes of chaos and emotion in the argentine capital, as tens of thousands of people queued up to view his coffin in the presidential palace. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson reports from the city. followed to the end by his

loyal fa ns, followed to the end by his loyal fans, so many followed to the end by his loyalfans, so many of followed to the end by his loyal fans, so many of whom could not believe or accept that the superstar footballer was dead. in the end though, maradona, a man so often in the limelight had a very private burial, late to rest next of his beloved mum and dad. these past few days have been emotional in argentina. there has been a very public out or of grief for a man people so not just as the world's greatest footballer but the country's funders ambassador as well. translation: it is a loss not just for well. translation: it is a loss notjust for argentina but well. translation: it is a loss not just for argentina but for the entire world. there will not be anyone like him ever again. asa not be anyone like him ever again. as a kid we all wanted to be maradona. i was born in the same hospital as him. translation: for me he is not there, he is still in my heart, he will be alive forever. i wa nted he will be alive forever. i wanted to be here. i managed it

andi wanted to be here. i managed it and i am really happy. amid tea rs and i am really happy. amid tears and sadness, they were lighter moments, chanting and singing to remember the good times. but as the day went on, emotions ran high as fans waited in line. at one point, they break down the barrier and riot police were drafted in. the coffin had to be removed from public viewing to keep the peace. maradona was not perfect, he battled drug addiction, he had his laws, but he came from nothing and never forgot his roots and argentinians say he will not be forgotten either. katy watson, bbc news, in buenos aires. the drugs company, astrazeneca, says there will be further investigation of the coronavirus vaccine it's produced with 0xford university, after questions were raised about results released earlier this week. two separate parts of the clinical trials revealed different rates of effectiveness. a smaller trial group accidentally given a lower dosage actually had better results.

scientists are trying to figure out which dosage of the vaccine offers the best protection. dr dean blumberg is an infectious diseases specialist at the university of california. he says errors made in the trial could actually result in a better vaccine think about these, it might be the most fortuitous mistake made in recent scientific discovery to find that and it is interesting because the immune system — there is so much we do not know and it is quite unpredictable so who would have predict this. given that this is a smaller group of people given this slightly flawed dosage that actually turns out to be more effective, so turns out to be more effective, so it is a smaller sample so they are opening to extend that out to more people? since it worked better, obviously it would have been nicer to have more people in that group rather than the other group.

2741 patients in that initial half does an almost 9000 in the other group and wouldn't it be nice if that was reverse. it will be interesting to get more data from people in the group that it appeared to work better. if i was in charge of doing the study, that is what i would do next. might it delay the vaccine? i do not think so. in both groups it was perfect if, i think this would be fine tuning the dosage. —— effective. you might want to go forward with the half dozer group. two advantages, one it appears to be more effective and the second it stretches the vaccine supply. it seems like a win— win. good news that it should not delay things as well. bring us up—to—date with comments out of the white house talking about the timescale.

rolling out vaccines within weeks. how do you feel about that? i think to gain the confidence of professionals and the public we really need to see the data. for the preliminary data looks very promising but that has been by press release. we really need to see the data presented more scientifically to the regulatory body so in the us that would be the food and drug administration and the centres for disease control. 0nce administration and the centres for disease control. once this comes out transparently, we will have much more public confidence in that. countries around the world have gone to great lengths to try and combat the spread of covid—19. in denmark the government has ordered the culling of seventeen million mink over fears they could of seventeen million mink over fears they could help spread the virus. other countries in europe have been testing their mink population as the bbc‘s tim allman reports. it is a controversial but profitable industry.

denmark is the largest breeder of mink in the european union but when the authorities discovered a mutated form of the virus that seemed to spread from animals to humans, a mass cull was ordered. the prime minister, mette frederiksen, saw the impact of that decision for herself. visiting a mink farm where the entire livestock had been destroyed, she seemed almost overwhelmed. translation: we have had two generations if really skilled translation: we have had two generations of really skilled mink farmers, father and son, who in a very, very short time have had their lifework shattered. it has been emotional for them. sorry...for me, as well. and it is notjust denmark that is worried. 0ther mink farming countries, like poland and lithuania, have diagnosed cases of covid—19 but so far no sign of the virus jumping between species. translation: in lithuania,

the infection has apparently not reached the level where the sick mink would infect people also, measures are being taken and the infected animals will be destroyed. it is a grim business. the danish government has been criticised for the way it's handled the crisis but the harsh truth is, these animals would eventually have been culled for their fur, even without coronavirus. tim allman, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: go! meet the little boy switching on his hometown's christmas lights after people there raised the funds for his life—saving cancer treatment. 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 world news,

the latest headlines: president trump says he will leave the white house if the electoral college certifiesjoe biden's victory, even as he continues to deny the reality of his defeat. diego maradona has been laid to rest on the outskirts of buenos aires after a day where thousands paid tribute to the football legend. earlier i spoke to brenda elsey, a specialist on the history of popular culture and politics in latin america. i started asking her what separates maradona from other football stars. i think for one you have to understand the moment of notjust argentina in the 1980s but also latin america, south america, in particular, they were in a period of transition to democracy from some ruthless dictatorships. and he was seen as really anti—authoritarian. he made it clear that he was going to rebel against anybody and everybody, and that really captured hopeful spirit for argentina and i think a lot of latin america and the global south saw themselves in what argentina

was experiencing at that particular moment. and the other thing is that diego maradona, as opposed to a lot of footballers, saw his working class roots as a political identity. it was important, class solidarity was important, his anti—imperialism came from that spirit that he had and that articulation, that it wasn't just happenstance where he came from, that wasn't just a cinderella story but it was part and parcel of who he was, and i think that was really important to working class people in the 1980s. here in the uk there's growing criticism from conservative mps, after boris johnson signalled 55 million people in england would be going into the two toughest levels of the new coronavirus tier system, when the national

lockdown ends next wednesday. the prime minister admits the measures would bring "heartache and frustration". but he said they would cut the rate of infection and the danger had "not gone away". if we ease off now we risk losing control of this virus all over again, casting aside our hard—won gains and forcing us back into a new year national lock down. the french police authorities have suspended three officers who are now being investigated after they were seen in an online video beating up a black music producer in paris. police have also been accused of using unnecessary force at a demonstration on monday for migrants' rights. despite those incidents, the government is trying to bring in laws that would make it illegal to broadcast the faces of police officers. mark lobel‘s report includes graphic scenes from the start. beaten for not

wearing a face mask. newly released speeded up cctv footage shows three french police officers, two in uniform and one plain clothed, confronting a black music producer in his own studio. 12 minutes go by as he's punched, kicked, hit with a truncheon, and allegedly racially abused, leaving him in a bloodied state. now released without charge and filing a complaint against the officers involved, the music artist said that police should have been protecting him, not attacking him. translation: i have appointments with doctors, so i'm going to see what they say. i don't know what to tell you. i'm really exhausted. i haven't slept much for days. what should have been a routine police stop ended disgrace with searing questions for the now suspended officers involved. translation: i would like to say to police officers that i support them

unfailingly. but they must respect the law and ethical code absolutely. and when people screw up they should leave the uniform of the republic behind them. they should be sanctioned. they should stop this work and they should be punished by the courts. it's been a bruising week for france's police, who are also being investigated after using tear—gas and allegedly brutal tactics dispersing this tented camp. volunteers had set it up in paris for previously evacuated migrants. as many such people move on as they continue to face a crackdown in parts of france, some suspect a once centrist president macron is trying to appear tougher on law and order ahead of presidential elections in 2022. there are protests, too, at the attempt to ban

the publication of photos or videos of police officers' faces currently progressing through parliament. which, some argue, would have censored scenes like these, for which the officers involved have now been reprimanded and, for many, was the only way that ensured the correct culprits were caught. mark lobel, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. thanksgiving in the us has coincided with a huge surge in coronavirus cases. wednesday saw more than 2000 new deaths reported across the country, the highest daily toll since june. but against advice, tens of millions of americans have travelled for the holiday, including more than six million who have travelled by air since friday — the highest numbers using american airports since the pandemic began. aleem maqbool reports. there won't be a thanksgiving gathering this year for deni taveras. she's lost six members of her family to coronavirus, including her uncle, dario. he was a man that was dedicated to his family. he was dedicated to his family, to his children, to his wife,

he was just an example of what a wholesome family unit looked like. there's been a dramatic surge in new cases across the us, and the health official advice had been not to travel for thanksgiving. but on the eve of the holiday, us airports saw their busiest day since mid—march. there are still many who feel the risks have been exaggerated. what will you be doing differently this year? nothing. i'm not doing anything differently. for me, it's going to be the same as any other thanksgiving. less travel, less people getting together will slow the spread of the virus — do you agree with that? i agree that, yes, mathematically, statistically speaking, if no—one travels, no—one will get it. but this is the united states of america, this is not some country ruled by despots.

that argument, that american civil liberties are more important than locking down, is frustrating for many who are nursing losses. it's a slap in the face for all of the people who died and the families that are suffering, and the people that are now not at the kitchen table or at the dinner table for us. more than 1,000 hospitals across the us are once again reporting critical shortages in staff and resources because of the mass increase in coronavirus patients. a poignant holiday for so many who are already grieving promises to be a heartbreaking one for many more. aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. let's get some of the day's other news. saudi arabia says it's opened a criminal investigation following the anti—corru ption drive launched by the de facto saudi leader, crown prince mohammed bin salman. it follows the arrest of hundreds of the country's elite in 2017 —

who were rounded up and held in the ritz—carlton hotel. around 50 suspects at the defence ministry are accused of fraud, and wasting public funds — amounting to more than $325 million. face—to—face brexit trade talks are to resume in london this weekend, eu sources have told the bbc. eu chief negotiator michel barnier and other members of his team have been self—isolating, as a precaution, after a colleague tested positive for covid last week.however, one senior eu figure suggested the negotiations could be brief. poland's prime minister has again warned of the possible disintegration of the european union if it attempts to make access to funds conditional on member states' upholding the rule of law. poland and hungary have vetoed the bloc‘s budget and covid recovery package over their objections to the proposed clause.

a trench is being dug around a rubbish dump in sri lanka to deter elephants from scavenging for food among plastic waste. the mammals regularly go to the landfill site , which is near a wildlife sanctuary , in the eastern town of ampara. plastic from landfill sites is a known killer of wild elephants , of which there are around 7,500 in sri lanka. what better way to say thank you to the community that helped save your life than to bring them a little cheer this christmas. that's exactly what six—year—old 0scar saxelby—lee has done, in the english town of worcester — by turning on the city's christmas lights in his home town. the people of worcester, raised close to a million dollars, to send him abroad for cancer treatment. phil mackie reports. last christmas, no—one could be confident that this story would have such a happy ending. this was 0scar saxelby—lee 18 months ago, just after his fifth birthday. he had a rare form of blood cancer, and the prognosis wasn't good. that's when the people of worcester a nswered

the call for help. thousands gave swabs to see if they might be a stem cell match, but when the transplant failed, the fundraising started. i don't want him to be poorly any more. please get some money to oscar to make him better. they raised three quarters of a million pounds to pay for treatment in singapore. now oscar's cancer—free, and back home with his mum and dad. i thinkjust the fact that we have such a strong, committed, loving community behind us, it means the world to us. because, you know, without everybody in worcester, we wouldn't be where we are today. news of his recovery has lit up what would otherwise have been a really miserable year. and it's, more importantly, brought about some much—needed christmas cheer. this evening, oscar was given the honour of virtually switching on worcester‘s christmas lights, after recording this earlier. ready, steady, go! whee! at the same time, across the city, othersjoined in. merry christmas! top of oscar's christmas list is a chocolate coin—making

machine. it's actually a special treat for my friends, because they've done all this hard work for me. ah! oscar can look forward to many more christmases at home in the city which helped to save him. phil mackie, bbc news, worcester. finally, some good news for fans of rocky the owl — the bird found in the rockefeller centre christmas tree has been rehabilitated and released back into the wild. it's believed the feathered stowaway hitched a ride when the tree was being transported to new york city. she'd gone three days without food or drink when she was rescued. and was nursed back to health at ravensbeard wildlife centre, with plenty of fluids and quote: "all the mice — or mince pies if she's vegetarian — she could eat". if you are listening when i brought you this story a little

bit of a go, i mistook mice for minutes. i'm pleased to report she hasn't been eating any mince pies. hello there. if you need to head out on the roads on friday morning, fog could cause one or two problems, certainly some poor visibility in places particularly across parts of england and wales. the fog slow to clear through the day and it will feel cold out there. two weather fronts, one to the northwest, one to the south bringing some cloud and patchy rain. but in between, very light winds, temperatures have been dropping, it's going to be a very cold start to friday morning. widely around freezing, some spots below and we will also see some fog. indeed, some freezing fog across parts of england into east wales as well. these are the areas most likely to be affected. slightly different across the far southeast, here it's more likely cloud bringing the odd spot of rain. some early sunshine through wales, parts of northern england,

and then for northern ireland and scotland, it's a slightly different story again. this band of cloud and weather front bringing some outbreaks of very patchy rain, and that band of cloud with those bits and pieces of rain not moving far at all through the day. the fog struggling to shift as well across those parts of england and wales starting off so murky. i think in many places, it willjust linger as low cloud all day long. a bit of rain creeping in towards the english channel coasts. temperatures, if you stick with fog all day long, maybe just 3—4 degrees. even in some brightness, 8—9 the best we can expect. and then through friday night, the fog will once again reform with a lot of low cloud and some spots of rain and drizzle working northwards across england and wales. lowest temperatures likely to be across the far north of england, also southeast scotland — some spots here will see a frost because of clear skies overhead. and there will be a slice of sunshine for some on saturday. particularly across scotland, perhaps northern ireland

as well. but for england and wales a lot of cloud, some misty, murky conditions. temperatures just a little bit higher, though, down towards the south, 11—12, possibly 13 degrees. the milder airjust trying to sneak its way in. now for the second half of the weekend, high pressure remains in charge — this frontal system up to the far north—west might just bring a little bit of rain in northern and northwestern scotland. otherwise a lot of drier weather, but again a lot of cloudy weather and any fog for the morning will struggle to clear during the day, and those temperatures for most 00:28:49,479 --> 2147483051:51:09,454 of us in single digits, 2147483051:51:09,454 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 at best around ten degrees.