this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. america's president—elect says wednesday's events in washington are one of the darkest days in us history — and he's blaming donald trump. the past four years, we have had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done. four people died during the riots — dozens of people have been arrested — many who took part remain defiant. i feel very privileged that i was a part of yesterday. i fight for freedom and democracy. even with everything that happened? yes, even with everything that happened.

social media giants twitter and facebook suspend donald trump's accounts — as top democrats want him thrown out of office — what can we expect from his final days in the white house? hello and welcome, i'm laura trevelyan. it's been about 2k hours since the siege of the us capitol was brought to an end, but the repurcussions are farfrom over. lawmakers of all political stripes have condemned the violence. top democrats have made it clear they don't want to wait untiljoe biden‘s inauguration for president trump to be removed from power. and law enforcement agencies have asked for helped in tracking down those who took part. we begin our coverage with this report from our north america editor, jon sopel. they can clean, they can repaint and put papers

back in filing cabinets, they can easily spruce the place up, but none of it will remove the stain on american democracy. the trump supporting mob, the trump inspired rioters, in what's being described as an attempted insurrection, have certainly left their mark. who's house?! the mob that descended on the capitol building probably couldn't believe how easy their task was. after security cordons crumbled, the thin blue line turned out to be painfully so. and if you want one image to highlight the inadequacy of the police response, just look at this officer endlessly retreating, one staircase at a time. or in the chamber, plainclothes officers having to resort to barricading the doors, their weapons drawn to stop the rioters from entering. these are scenes that have played out in tinpot regimes around the world, but in america, this beacon of democracy? this protester ashli babbitt

was killed, a military veteran who had served her country in afghanistan and iraq, only to die from a single gunshot wound fired in the hall of the house of representatives. business resumed last night. joe biden certified as the next president. the current vice president condemning the mob in a way that donald trump couldn't bring himself to. to those who wreaked havoc in our capital today, you did not win. violence never wins. freedom wins. and this is still the people's house. and today, the president—elect made clear who he held responsible for last night's events. the past four years we've had a president who has made his contempt for our democracy, our constitution, the rule of law, clear in everything he has done.

and yesterday was but the culmination of that unrelenting attack. but why was security so lax? it's not as though anyone was caught unaware. this overwhelmingly white crowd was treated with kid gloves. police are seemingly posing for selfies with the protesters. but this is what washington looked like last summer, when black lives matter protesters came to the capitol after the death of george floyd. the difference couldn't be more striking. and then there's the role of the president himself in inciting this coup attempt. we are going to walk down to the capitol... that seems to appal those who have stood by the president. rumours swirled that his fellow cabinet members might try to invoke the 25th amendment and forcibly remove him from office. maybe in response to that threat, donald trump finally — through an aide —

issued this statement in the middle of the night. donald trump couldn't tweet it out because his account had been suspended and today, facebook announced it was indefinitely blocking his account, a hugely significant move. and the democratic speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, whose office was yesterday occupied by this protester, ijoined the senate democrat leader in calling on the vice president to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th amendment. if the vice president cannot act the congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment. four years ago at his inauguration on the steps of the capitol, donald trump promised the american carnage, as he called it, would end right here, right now. but last night this is what his legacy looked like. jon sopel, bbc news, washington.

there's been no comment from president trump today. he's been barred from many social media outlets, and did not appear before any cameras. but in the last hour, the white house press secretary kayleigh mcena ny addressed reporters. the violence we saw yesterday at our nation's capital was appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the american way. we condemn it, the president and this administration, in the strongest possible terms. it is unacceptable and those that broke the law should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. let's get some reaction now from the lawmakers who lived through the experience last night. congresswoman debbie dingell is democrat from michigan. she was on capitol hill when those protesters stormed the us capitol. she hasn't slept since. thank you so much forjoining us. we really appreciate your time at this moment. 2a hours after what happened, what is your response to

what you saw a? you know, i'm hoping that it what you saw a? you know, i'm hoping thatitis what you saw a? you know, i'm hoping that it is going to help my fellow americans see how this country has been divided by fear and hatred and what has been happening. i listen to you all talk about how the president did encouraged as violence. he did. he put kerosene on a fire and encourage them to go to the capital. and while it's nice to hear these words today about how the action was reprehensible, which it was, when he put out at four o'clock the morning that he would support a smooth transition of government, yesterday, but it was anything but a smooth transmission —— transition of government. we cannot allow this kind of violence in the symbol of oui’ kind of violence in the symbol of our nation's democracy. and they attacked the fundamental pillars of oui’ attacked the fundamental pillars of our democracy. some telling people that i hope this is a wake—up call

for all of us. we have got to find a way to come together into disagree inafar way to come together into disagree in a far more civil ways. no comments being reported by us media tonight, by the new york times and business insider that the vice president, mike pence, opposes using the attorney for the moment to remove the president from office. the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi has suggested then that she will move, potentially, to try to impeach the president. do you think that's the right move? a second impeachment? i'm very i think that that's probably what is going to happen in the house and senate since the leaders have called for it. i do think that donald trump needs to be held accountable for what has happened. i think we've got to be very vigilant about what did happen and will happen in these next 13 days that we have left that we don't see the kind of damage that we sought to our country yesterday. i

think that it's very difficult to do that in the next 13 days, but i think we will see people, i believe my colleagues think it's very important to hold them accountable for the attack on democracy that he made. i would for the attack on democracy that he made. iwould prefer to for the attack on democracy that he made. i would prefer to have seen the 20 for the moment because i also think it's very important that we pull ourselves together, that we have been pitted against each other for too long to stop so i'm fearful of what could happen in the next 13 days, but i also think, i don't want to see anything that divides us further. and as you look forward to 14 further. and as you look forward to 1a days' time whenjoe biden will be president commuter talked about how we get through this, how we come together. what do you think he can do in practical terms?” together. what do you think he can do in practicalterms? i think that there is nobody that has been more prepared and is at the right place and at the right time thanjoe biden. i've known him, i don't feel

that old, but we were both young, for almost a0 years. and he and my husband were good close friends who worked across the aisle, who knew that the strongest kind of policy that the strongest kind of policy that you built was to bring people of all parties together, to find that's common ground, to get by so that's common ground, to get by so that everybody felt that they had a piece of making that policy successful. i think there's nobody that is more prepared to try to be that healer. joe biden is one of the most compassionate, empathetic people i know. i could tell you story after story. he understands the hurts, he understands the need, and i think he will work very hard to bring people together. congresswoman debbie, thank you so much forjoining us and for staying up and for sharing what you went through. thank you. dustyjohnson also lived through last night's mayhem. he's a republican representative from south dakota, and hejoins me now.

thank you so much for being on the programme. it's great to see you. just because you know, now you have a days distance from what happened. how are you processing it, the storming of the capital? well, it was terrible. it was jarring, storming of the capital? well, it was terrible. it wasjarring, it has been difficult to process. so many people i talked to have discussed their fear, people i talked to have discussed theirfear, and people i talked to have discussed their fear, and the idea that these violent thugs were able to overrun capital police, that did create a lot of fear. that was not my primary motion, to be honest, it was anger. throughout the day come i was just seething in anger that those people would defile this incredible temple to our constitutional republic. and now that there are calls for the president to be held accountable, including from one of your fellow republican lawmakers who thinks the 20 for the moment should be invoked, it seems that that is not possible, the vice president won't go down that road, but do think the president should be held accountable

for what happened ? president should be held accountable for what happened? welcome to the president does have culpability, as frankie, many other politicians do as well. both sides of the altima survey as well. both sides of the altima survey on as well. both sides of the altima survey on my side of the aisle. there are many who have stoked this type of outrage, this type of anger for their own political benefit. i know in the aftermath of these kinds of dramatic events commit can sometimes be, there can be a desire to try to find a single villain to place the blame on, but donald trump is not alone here. almost all of us on this side of the pond need to do a betterjob of talking about finding solutions rather than just getting everybody whipped up talking about problems all the time. well, you are a problem solver. you are pa rt you are a problem solver. you are part of that moderates caucus that reaches across the aisle to try to solve problems. what do you see as something practical that can be done to prevent something like this happening again? welcome i was

grateful that you had debbie, a friend of mine and also a member of our problem solvers caucus on it before me. debbie and i are friends, we have different worldviews, but i think she understands that i'm not the enemy, i understand she's not the enemy, i understand she's not the enemy, i understand she's not the enemy, are fellow americans trying to solve the problems that our globe faces. and so what can we do? it begins with tone. it's not just about tone, but it is about tone, the way we campaign, the way we build coalitions. the way we get people riled up, and then secondly, i think president—elect biden really needs to select some issues to make progress on that he can work with republicans on. he can choose to work with the extremes and his party and try to overpower the republicans. i think that would be a terrible decision. there are areas like infrastructure, there are areas like infrastructure, there are areas like criminaljustice reform, the pandemic, economic recovery, pushing back against china and russia. those

are the areas where he could work with republicans and build a far more functional government than we otherwise would have if he went it alone. congressman dusty, thank you so much forjoining us. thanks for having me. still to come, all outright or coup attempt? we speak with an expert if these process were indeed an attempt to overthrow the government. the japanese people are in mourning, following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. "good grief!" after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of south africa tomorrow, in spite of protests and violence from some black activist groups. they say international artists

should continue to boycott south africa until majority rule is established. around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star, david bowie, who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news, the latest headlines... america's president—electjoe biden says wednesday's events in washington are one of the darkest days in us history — and he's blaming donald trump. social media giants twitter and facebook suspend donald trump's accounts — the democrats — want him thrown out of office.

while the us capitol was under the siege, the rest of the world was watching — and on thursday, global leaders gave their verdicts. chinese state media said the rioting had destroyed america's global image. russia's foreign ministry said the electoral system in the us does not meet modern democratic standards — and the country had hit rock bottom. and iran's president said the chaos showed how vulnerable western democracy is. when it came to america's traditional allies, the tone was only a little friendlier — and it's clear where they were placing the blame. he encouraged people to storm the capital insofar as the president consistently has cast doubt on the outcome of a free and fair election. i believe that that was completely wrong. what happened today in washington, dc is not american. definitely. we believe in the strength of our democracies.

of american democracy. i was saddened to see that president trump, when things were, you know, evolving really badly, that it took so much time to calm down people and still keep saying that the election was fraudulent. so was this an attempted coup by president trump's backers? naunihal singh wrote the book — "seizing power: the strategic logic of military coups", which examines attempts to overthrow governments. he is assistant professor at the us naval war college in newport, rhode island. hejoins us now. thanks so much for being with us. so, if this wasn't exactly a coup in the sense that it wasn't an attempt to gain power, was itan wasn't an attempt to gain power, was it an insurrection? hello, yes. i

agree personally speaking as myself and not for the us government. i would class this as an insurrection. it's definitely a threat to democracy. it's an effort to stop a legitimate transfer of power. but what's interesting here is the means that trump is using to do so. in particular, what you are seeing is that trump is not acting as a head of state, which is one of the things that we would expect to see in a coup. he's not using the tools of the state. he's not using the military. instead, he's behaving like a demagogue, and using a rebel army of ordinary citizens. this shows us how weak he is. because he's not using the powers of the state, its much easier to deal with him. so, for example, facebook has suspended his facebook page and twitter has cut him off for at least 12 hours, and that limits his ability to have an impact. similarly, right now, his power

comes from the aid and assistance he gets from other politicians. and if we increase the social pressure on those politicians, if we make it clear that their opportunistic behaviour today will be remembered for decades to come, we could probably create a separation between the people who are enabling him and the people who are enabling him and the president himself. and without any assistance, he would be just another angry man yelling on the street. so, perhaps then we shouldn't be so concerned because from what you are saying, when donald trump leaves office, you think there is an attempt to —— restore democratic values. certainly. of the flip side of the story is true as well. because he's not using his formal prerogatives, his formal authorities to cause trouble, he will continue to be able to cause trouble even once he leaves

office. if and when that occurs. so, this problem may not go away immediately. and what about the creation of an alternative media ecosystem. i was there yesterday on capitol hill talking to the president's ardent supporters who firmly believe or choose to believe that the election was stolen. is that the election was stolen. is that something that you've seen in anti—democratic efforts that you've studied, this alternative information source. certainly. it goes along way to explain their motivations. while i believe that many of politicians who are supporting president trump are doing so very cynically, i do think that the ordinary people we saw who are engaged in this, some of them are engaged in this, some of them are misguided, particularly the ones who were outside by two didn't come inside capitol hill. and so, the

existence of this much fake news of this much misinformation is a problem. that said, we should not underestimate the extent to which trump uses the traditional media and twitter in order to get across his point of view. if he was forced to rely solely on oa and n, i don't think he would have the same impact. are you surprised by the scenes that you saw here in america yesterday?” was deeply disturbed. it hurt me, you know, it hurt me in my patriotism. but the thing is, there are antecedents to it. they are just are antecedents to it. they are just a long time ago. they were after the end of reconstruction, and they were at the state level. we have never seen anything like this happen inside the capital. for one thing, this was the first time, we believe,

that someone was able to merge with the confederate flag inside the capital. in this symbolic imagery from all that was great, as well the very real terror that people experience. you know better than i, since you were close to the action. indeed. thank you so much for joining us. thank you. well, from the very start of his presidency, donald trump promised to make big changes to american politics. he certainly did that. our north america correspondent —— the neck our north america correspondent, nick bryant, considers what yesterday's dramatic events could mean for mr trump's legacy, and for the future of american politics. so help me god. congratulations, mr president. from the moment that donald trump took the oath of office, it instantly became clear that he would change the presidency more than the presidency would change him. this american carnage stops right here and stops right now. but millions of voters had sent him to the white house precisely

because he was prepared to say the unsayable. they loved his antiestablishment energy. they backed his trashing of behavioural norms. ahead of the election, he strongly signalled that he was even prepared to reject democratic conventions. he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. well, we are going to have to see what happens, you know that. i have been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. but more than 7a million americans voted for him nonetheless, the second highest figure in us history. he won almost a7% of the national vote. in events like thisjuly ath celebration at the lincoln memorial, critics of his presidency saw signs of authoritarianism, america first as a military tattoo. and many people globally viewed episodes like his return from hospital after recovering from the coronavirus as comic opera. some lampooned him as

an american mussolini. but many of his backers saw something different, an american strongman and a fellow victim of elite sneering. the whole number of electors appointed to vote for president of the united states... on capitol hill last night, some of his loyal allies, the trump enablers, started tojump ship. i hate it to end this way. oh, my god, i hate it. from my point of view, he's been a consequential president, but today... the first thing you'll see. all i can say is, count me out, enough is enough. but almost half of republican lawmakers voted last night to overturnjoe biden‘s victory, even after they witnessed first hand what looked like an insurrection on capitol hill. when he emerged on the political scene four years ago, it was said that the new york tycoon had mounted a hostile takeover of the republican party, but there was always massive buy—in from the rank—and—file conservatives who became his personal base. so even after the american carnage that we witnessed here yesterday,

he remains the dominant figure in conservative politics, and could be for years to come. the republicans have always prided themselves on being the party of abraham lincoln, but these past four years, they have become the party of donald trump. many of his supporters display a near cult—like devotion. so it is premature to see the storming of the capitol as trump and trumpism's final stand. nick bryant, bbc news, washington. and before we go: this has been an emotional 2a hours or so. the images from capitol hill have shaken many of us to our core. the violence struck at the very heart of america's government. as we've been discussing this hour, lawmakers of all political stripes have condemned the rioters' actions. we have just over 12 days until the inauguration ofjoe biden. a lot can happen between now and then.

but today, lawmakers were back at work, the business of the nation continues. thanks for watching bbc news. hello there. thursday was a really cold day in the midlands where the fog persisted. and it's cold widely at the moment, of course, we're got a widespread frost, and again, for many parts of the country, it could be quite icy out there as well. and in some areas, we are seeing some more sleet and snow falling. so, it's a real mixture, some quite tricky conditions early in the morning, a wintry mixture. we've got most of the patchy fog now across the southeast of england by this stage. but with sleet and snow falling mainly across wales and northern england, there's going to be a covering of snow for many, there could be even more than that over the pennines. a dry but icy start for northern ireland, and indeed for much of scotland, but a covering of snow for northern and eastern areas, the more persistent snow should've moved southwards by this stage, and the wintry showers that we are left with will soon fade away, so it's going to turn dry

and sunny for scotland and indeed for northern ireland. more cloud, though, for england and wales, again, a mixture of rain, sleet and mainly hill snow for northern england and wales. a few wintry showers around elsewhere, and the fog will be lifting through the morning. a cold day wherever you are, temperatures, again, only 1—a celsius. and as we headed to the weekend, it's going to be really cold start on saturday morning. a widespread quite sharp frost as well, some fog around in the morning across southern england to slowly lift, but otherwise england and wales looks dry and sunny. for scotland and northern ireland, the cloud will tend to increase as the winds pick up, and we see some wetter whether arriving in the northwest of scotland. another cold day, those temperatures in the afternoon, 2—a degrees for many areas. the wetter whether that's coming into the northwest on that second weather front there, and that will slip its way southwards on saturday night, but weaken. but we are left with more cloud across the northern half of the uk. still some patches of fog in southern england,

southern areas, though, seeing a bright but cold day. more cloud for northern england, northern ireland and scotland in particular, some further damp weather coming back in to western areas of scotland. here, it should be a bit milder. and generally, those temperatures of degree or so higher on sunday. things are going to get milder for many of us as we head into next week, as the winds come in from the atlantic. notice that colder air still across parts of scotland, so there is the threat of some snow here. but generally, next week, looks much milder, but there will be some rain and some stronger winds as well.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. us president—electjoe biden said the people who stormed the us capitol building on wednesday were a "riotous mob" and "domestic terrorists". he blamed donald trump for what he called an unrelenting attack on american democracy. white has a spokesperson says that once a puzzling violence was appalling, reprehensible and antithetical to the american way and that the president condemned it. she said it did not represent in ministration's values. —— administration's values. facebook has extended its block on donald trump's accounts for at least the next two weeks untiljoe biden's inauguration — saying he was trying to incite violent insurrection. twitter has also temporarily suspended his feed. and there've been numerous demands for an inquiry into wednesday's violent protests. the mayor of washington called them an affront to democracy.