welcome to bbc news, i'm mike embley. our top stories: it's official — joe biden will be the next president of the united states as the electoral college certifies his victory. our democracy pushed, tested, threatened, proved to be resilient, true and strong. and in washington, outgoing president trump announces his attorney general, william barr, will be leaving by christmas. the coronavirus vaccine has begun rolling out across america on the day the death toll on the country passes 300,000. in china, questions about the alleged forced use of people from minority communities in the country's huge cotton industry.

joe biden has been formally certified as the next president of the united states and has promised to govern for "all americans". the state of california has formally delivered its 55 electoral votes to mr biden, and that has taken him decisively over the 270 vote threshold needed to secure the white house. the president—elect then addressed the nation, from his home state, delaware, and directly referenced donald trump's repeated attempts to challenge the result. every single avenue was made available to president trump to contest the results. he took full advantage of each and every one of those avenues. president trump was denied no course of action that he wanted to take. he took his case to republican governors and republican secretaries of state, as he criticised many of them. to republican state legislatures, to republican—appointed

judges at every level. and in the case decided after the supreme court's latest projection, a judge appointed by president trump wrote "this court has allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits." lost on the merits. even president trump's own cyber—security chief, overseeing our elections, said it was the most secure election in american history — and summarily, was let go. let me say it again. his own cyber—security chief, overseeing this election, said it was the most secure in american history. you know, respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy, even when we find those results hard to accept. the president elect of course. 0ur washington correspondent, nomia iqbal is following developments.

and that speech byjoe biden was probably one of the strongest speeches he has given, certainly on this campaign trailso far, notwithstanding his croa ky voice there. he used this as an opportunity to seal this victory and to really go for donald trump in a way we haven't seen before. criticising the way donald trump has been relentlessly trying to delegitimise the election results. he also criticised for more than 100 republicans in congress who signed this lawsuit, trying to invalidate the results in some key swing states, which was then thrown out by the supreme court. and using really strong language there, you know, talking about how democracy has prevailed in america, that this was an extreme position that had happened in america, never to happen again. he also talked about, he praised state and local officials, saying they were courageous for handling the election and not giving credence to what they knew wasn't true. but of course, he is now in a position where he

is confident enough to say all of that because the electoral college has declared something people knew weeks ago, that he will be the next president of the united states. as you say, the courts have found no evidence of fraud, thejustice department has found no evidence, republican election officials have found almost no evidence. there is still a possibility, isn't there, of a further challenge in the middle of january? there is. congress, the next step is for congress to ratify those votes in january. so that is the next step. but, you know, we have heard tonight that donald trump is still trying to challenge the election results, trying to install pro—trump electors in certain states to try and overturn the result and for them to declare it for him. but if you speak to legal experts, there is a bit of a collective eye roll in that, that is not likely to happen. it is very hard to see where donald trump goes from here.

of course, he is not likely to concede, no matter what the electoral college says. he did actually say a few weeks ago if the electoral college cannot and declared byjoe biden, he would accept it. but there is no sign of that happening. i think whether or not his refusal to accept it is performative, for his base, we don't know, but, you know, i think it is quite clear from what we have seen in the last few weeks that donald trump will continue to challenge the results. and probably not unconnected with all of this, mrtrump is losing more key personnel? that's right. it is probably not a coincidence that he tweeted that his attorney general, william barr, will be resigning, and he tweeted that around about the same time the electoral college were casting their votes. william barr is someone who was a trump loyalist. he has been very close to donald trump. he was due to leave onjanuary 20, the same time as donald trump, but it was predicted there would be

an early exit because william barr had given an interview last week in which he pretty much refused to back donald trump's unsubstantiated claims of election fraud. but i think by saying that he has resigned tonight, i do think that is probably trump's way of trying to get the official biden victory away from the headlines. nomia, thank you very much. for more on the us presidential transition — head to the bbc news website. you can get a lot more information, including this explainer on what the electoral college is and how it works. go to bbc—dot—com—slash news and follow the links. the united states has recorded it's 300,000th death from coronavirus. the grim statistic was reach just hours after the first vanccine outside of clinical trials was administered to an american citizen. sandra lindsay, an intensive care nurse in new york, got herjab on camera

in an effort to help boost public confidence in the vaccine. she said she hoped this was the beginning of the end of a long, painful period. nick bryant reports. this was a made—for—television moment staged in new york, the city that for months became the epicentre of this viral onslaught. the first recipient was a health worker on the covid frontline, sandra lindsay, an intensive care nurse at a medical centre in queens. i feel hopeful today. relieved, i feel like healing is coming. i hope this marks the beginning of the end of a very painful time in our history. there were twin emotions of rejoicing and relief. at this medical facility alone, they have treated more than 100,000 covid patients. and it was watched remotely by new york's governor, andrew cuomo, who has been so prominent in america's coronavirus response.

this vaccine is exciting because i believe this is the weapon that will win the war. it's the beginning of the last chapter of the book. now we just have to do it. the vaccine doesn't work if it's in the vial, right? the nationwide rollout is already under way — the most ambitious vaccination programme in the history of america. here we go. the aim is to administer some 20 million doses by the end of the year, and some 100 million doses by the end of february. the vaccine is a shot in the arm for the us economy, and they were punching the air on the new york stock exchange, open for trading. and just minutes after that first vaccine in new york came this tweet from the outgoing president, donald trump. "congratulations usa," he wrote. "congratulations world." this precious cargo is now being delivered to all 50

states, and it can't come soon enough. america has just passed another awful milestone of 300,000 coronavirus deaths. nick bryant, bbc news, new york. let's get some of the day's other news. the netherlands is going into a strict second lockdown, with the closure of all schools and shops for at least five weeks. restaurants and bars will remain closed. anti—lockdown protesters could be heard outside parliament as prime minister, mark rutte, announced the restrictions. seniorfigures in the afghan taliban have warned the us against breaking a commitment to withdraw troops in the next six months. speaking to the bbc, they said they would retaliate by resuming attacks on international forces. during the election campaign, joe biden spoke of retaining a small force in afghanistan. the trump administration had agreed to withdraw forces. google says it had restored most of its services that were affected by a massive outage in many countries.

users around the world reported problems with gmail, google drive, the android play store and maps. google said the problem hit its authentication system, which is used for logging in and similar functions, and lasted about 45 minutes. the authorities in north—west nigeria say they are negotiating with a group of gunmen for the safe return of hundreds of children abducted from a boarding school on friday night. some 800 pupils were enrolled at the all—boys school in katsina state, and almost half remain unaccounted for. it is not clear how many ran away durng the attack, and how many were abducted. from kano, our correspondent mayeni jones sent this report. abdulhadi escaped friday's mass kidnapping by jumping out of a window. translation: i was afraid, terribly afraid. but what frightened me the most was that my brother would be in danger. when i looked for him, i couldn't see him. but in the chaos, he lost his twin brother —

one of 333 boys the state governor says are still unaccounted for. some of them, like abdulhadi, managed to run away but many are believed to have been taken by armed men for ransom. three days later, the campus is eerily quiet... ..littered with the reminders of a childhood shattered just days ago. this dormitory still has all of the belongings of some of the young boys who were taken here on friday night. they were whisked away hastily, barely had the time to take anything with them and they've left their parents with more questions than answers. it's unclear when they'll be reunited. ruqayya bello‘s1li—year—old son 0mar has asthma and was ill in the days before the kidnapping. translation: frankly, i can't sleep. whenever i think i'm going to sleep, i think about whether he is able to sleep and it keeps me awake. even food i can't eat every day, i'm worried how he is.

my biggest wish is that he comes back home. kidnapping for ransom has been on the rise in nigeria, but the abductions are not usually on this scale and with hundreds of children still missing, comparisons are being drawn with the kidnapping of the chibok girls in 2014 — dozens of whom are still missing. these parents are hoping that this is not their children's fate. mayenijones, bbc news, kankara. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: there goes the sun — thousands in south america enjoy the spectacular sight of a total solar eclipse. saddam hussein is finished because he killed our people, our women, our children. the signatures took only a few minutes,

but they brought a formal end to 3.5 years of conflict — conflict that has claimed more than 200,000 lives. before an audience of world leaders, the presidents of bosnia, serbia and croatia put their names to the peace agreement. the romanian border was sealed and silent today. romania has cut itself off from the outside world in order to prevent the details of the presumed massacre in timisoara from leaking out. from sex at the white house to a trial for his political life, the lewinsky affair tonight guaranteed bill clinton his place in history as only the second president ever to be impeached. this is bbc news, the latest headlines: joe biden has praised the strength and resilience

of american democracy, after the electoral college certified his victory in the presidential election. and in washington, outgoing president trump announces his attorney general william barr will be leaving by christmas. the bbc has learned that hundreds of thousands of people from ethnic minorities, including the uighur communty, are being forced by the chinese authorities to pick cotton in the far western region of xinjiang. china's cotton crop, which makes up a fifth of the world's total supply, could be far more dependent on forced labour than previously thought. the chinese government denies the claims, saying that a program to transfer more than two million people into factories and fields is part of a massive poverty alleviation campaign. 0ur china correspondent john sudworth reports. xinjiang makes mountains of cotton, a fifth of the world's total and our investigation will only heighten concerns about this product,

although the evidence wasn't easy to find. they're waiting for us. we're turned back at checkpoints... we'll pay, we'll pay. ..stopped from filming... we'll pay. ..questioned. .. ..and followed. this is one site we're trying to get to — a giant re—education camp. but, more recently, something else has being built next door — a textile factory. days after its completion, a large group of people can be seen being moved between the camp and the factory. wow, and this is the factory here, it's extraordinary... from the ground, it's clear the factory and accommodation blocks are all now one single site, plastered with communist party slogans. but when we get out to film... we are entitled to film in public anywhere in china...

china says these places are simply about creating jobs, but everywhere we go, there's this extraordinary effort to stop us documenting any of it. in xinjiang, a whole culture is under suspicion. more than a million uighurs and other traditionally muslim minorities are thought to have been swept into the camps, viewed by china as potential islamist separatists. but, each year, more than 2 million others are being gathered for something else. giant new factories and textile mills, hundreds of them, where they face strict controls and political indoctrination. "the first thing our workers have to learn is to love "the communist pa rty", this factory boss says. but now, the bbc has seen evidence that shows uighurs are also being sent en masse

into the cotton fields. one day, my family will disappear from this world... mahmoud, not his real name, left xinjiang three years ago but his family still lives there. and my mum told me, like, she is picking the cotton for the garment officers. it's like our duty to do that work. they willjust go because they are so afraid of being taken to jail or somewhere else. newly uncovered documents show the scale. 150,000 pickers sent to one area, almost as many again organised for another. they're given ideological education and "the lazy", the authorities say, are being taught "the glories of work". the evidence suggests that the real intention here in xinjiang is the dismantling of an entire culture and its rebuilding through the total control of people's families,

their faith, their thoughts and, on a massive scale across the fields and factories of this region, in the work that they do. in a written statement, the chinese government said... but the researcher who unearthed the documents believes they have major implications for the global fashion industry. for the first time, we not only have evidence of uighur forced labour in manufacturing, in garment making, we have evidence of a massive state—sponsored forced labour scheme involving hundreds of thousands, over half a million, of ethnic minorities and it's directly about the picking of cotton. in terms of global supply chains, now that's a game changer. as we leave xinjiang,

we pass this prison camp complex, thought to contain multiple factory buildings. it's the first independent footage of this truly colossal site, a final chilling reminder that here, mass incarceration and mass labour are closely connected. john sudworth, bbc news, xinjiang. we will stay a crossed that story, of course. theatres in london will have close on tuesday evening as the capital faces tougher coronavirus restrictions. the theatre trust called the move a disaster. venues in the west end had been allowed to open from the 3rd december, with reduced capacity to allow for social distancing. now, performances will be suspended with no clear route back to reopening. with me is bbc news reporter mark lobel. mark, how have those in the industry responded to this announcement? it is bleak news for london's west and. after months of misery we had the scenes with

the royal family turning up to relaunch the pantomime season and just as quickly the curtain has come down. john logan summed up what people thought. it is disastrous news for the theatre. they have been putting in money to make kravets safe venues and because at the moment it is impossible to get insurance for those productions, this is money centres will have to incur. the government acknowledges the impact on this sector but they need to act quickly so the curtain will come down on wednesday. the problem is, although the government says it will put in $2 million worth of rescue packages, like the theatre industry is arguing is that it does not affect people in this industry and the commercial sector. they want

insurance schemes backed by the government because the foetus ta kes government because the foetus takes so long to set up and yet these decisions are made so quickly to close them down. is industry feeling a bit picked on? they. i was speaking to one theatre director tonight, who had a show about to have its final night on tuesday. he was saying there is no evidence of increased transmission because of our socially distance things are within the industry and if you look around and see the things that have not been told to close on wednesday, he felt it was unfair. we understand better than anyone that the health of the nation comes first and no—one argues that. i think the difficult is we see non—essential retail being allowed to open, we see various other services and while it is encouraging for them, we cannot quite understand why we have been singled out as a sector

thatis been singled out as a sector that is unable to open under such safe protocols as we have put in place. he also told me of companies that he works with within the industry that one under and the fear of a brain drain that people are having to find other careers, so moving away from theatre. it has been away from theatre. it has been a big blow to london and tourism hopes in the future and said for people who have been having such a bad year with something to cheer up and look forward to. andrew lloyd webber said earlier this month that he thinks things return to normal by the summer but the next two weeks, they will not be lifted for at least two weeks during which time the listening of restrictions for christmas will come in. it is unlikely it would be a happy start for anyone in the theatre industry. thank you very much and i know you will be staying across this story.

hundreds of thousands of people in southern chile and argentina have been able to watch a total solar eclipse. the eclipse darkened the skies as the moon passed between the sun and the earth for around two minutes — although some were a little disappointed. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. this is not really eclipse weather, fog and heavy rain blocking the view of the many fog and heavy rain blocking the view for many in this region of chile. they may not enable to see it but they knew it was happening, especially when things started getting dark. this, the middle of the day, but it may as well have been the middle of the night. a different story a little further east, ideal conditions in this part of argentina. there had been some concerns about the health consequences, people gathering together in the middle of her pandemic, so plenty of facemasks as well as protective eyewear. no obstructions here. a spectacular sight of a solar eclipse in full effect. over the course of several hours, the part of the moon obscured the sun, a rare

and powerful moment. translation: it is a special darkness because it is not night—time. the temperature dropped a lot. it felt very cold. the truth is, it is something very special. translation: it made me cry. in the moment of total darkness, it made me cry because it was a very strong feeling, after waiting so long for it. the next total eclipse will take place in december next year, but that will only be visible from antarctica. tim allman, bbc news. before we leave you, the most important news of the bulletin, and for the boys and girls of the world, and it might be concerned over the health of sa nta concerned over the health of santa claus. but confirmation of the christmas will be able to make his all—important present delivery. the leaders have made a special exemption

on quarantine rules. children are reminded physical distancing will remain in force. however centre will not be susceptible to covid—19.” understand the concern for sa nta understand the concern for santa because he is of old age in one of the older age groups but i can tell you that santa claus is immune to this virus and we had a brief chat with him and he is doing very well. mrs clause is doing very well and they are very busy right now. that is the official word from the world health organization stop joe biden from the world health organization stopjoe biden has been formally certified as the next president of the united states. results from electoral colleges taking him over the 270 threshold required to bring in the presidency. he said the result confirmed what he called the strength and resilience of oui’ the strength and resilience of our democracy but he did directly reference mr trump's

attem pts directly reference mr trump's atte m pts to directly reference mr trump's attempts to overturn the result. thank you very much for watching. hello. tuesday will be one of the quieter weather days of the week. there'll still be some showers around, but fewer than we had on monday. more places staying dry and getting to see some occasional sunshine. still windy, though not as windy as it was on monday. low pressure still close by, this brisk south—westerly flow with sunshine and showers. here comes the next area of low pressure for wednesday, which will not be one of the quieter weather days of the week, as we'll see. but this is how tuesday's starting, a little bit cooler than monday morning, many of us dry with some early sunshine. showers, though, mostly in the west initially and still some heavy ones. the sun will push further east during the day on the breeze but be very hit—and—miss across eastern areas. and whilst for many of us, the showers will fade as the afternoon goes on, still this area here that has to push north across scotland

as we go through the evening. temperatures a little bit down compared with monday, not so much as you'll notice because the wind is lighter. we'll get to see some sunshine. but the wind will pick up again across western areas, initially down toward the southwest, as we go through tuesday night and into wednesday morning, with that next area of low pressure coming in and clearly turning things wetter for some of us too, whereas elsewhere, it'll be a cooler start to the day but a mainly dry start to the day. so here is that area of low pressure. it has strong winds with it, particularly for the republic of ireland, but could well see parts of southwest england initially, then eastern parts of northern ireland, gusting to 60 mph for a time. potentially disruptive winds. where they combine with high tides, there could be some coastal flooding. there's an area of heavy rain too, but that will weaken as it pushes eastwards during the day, but there will be heavy showers following on behind, particularly into scotland and into northern ireland. these are your wind gusts. and it will be blowing right across the uk on wednesday, but again, particularly so in the west.

and many of us will see temperatures just into double figures, maybe a degree or so short of that, especially in scotland. and this is how thursday's shaping up, back to one of the quieter weather days. lighter winds, more in the way of sunshine, the odd shower around, many places dry, but we will have rain gathering to the west again as we go on through the later stages of the day. and that's from the next area of low pressure, with more wind and rain, moving across the uk for friday. and then looking into the weekend, it's a mixture of some sunshine with the chance of catching a shower.

this is bbc news, the headlines: joe biden has been formally certified as the next president of the united states, results from electoral colleges around the country have given him far more than the 270 votes he needed. in a speech just afterwards, he directly referenced mr trump's attempts to overturn the result, but said it confirmed the ‘strength and resilience' of american democracy. mr trump has announced the departure of the top american law officer, attorney—general william barr. he said he would be gone by christmas. the outgoing president has made increasingly hostile comments about mr barr since he declared the department ofjustice had found no evidence of widespread election fraud. the number of coronavirus fatalities in the united states has passed 300,000 people, as the country begins its mass vaccination campaign. the authorities hope to vaccinate 100 million people by april. an intensive care nurse in new york was the first to receive the injection.