this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm laura trevelyan in washington. our top stories. the us president—elect says he's fine with donald trump not attending his inauguration in 12 days' time. joe biden also took sharp aim at the man he's about to replace. he's been an embarrassment to the country. embarrassed us around the world. not worthy. not worthy to hold that office. the speaker of the house has threatened to impeach president trump following this week's unrest. it would be the second time that lawmakers have brought such charges against the outgoing president. and i'm kasia madera in london. also on the programme... the uk records its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began —

more than 13 hundred deaths reported today. and a major incident has been declared in london — as hospitals across the uk struggle to cope. the moderna vaccine is approved for use in the uk. it's the third vaccine to get the green light and 17 million doses have been ordered by the government. welcome to washington. the incoming us president, joe biden, has accused donald trump of encouraging a mob to attack the us capitol building. mr biden slammed the 45th president for inciting the riot that laid siege to a bastion of american democracy. earlier, house speaker nancy pelsoi threatened to initiate impeachment proceedings against president trump, if he doesn't resign. that would be a second

impeachment for mr trump. joe biden acknowledged that with only 12 days until; he takes office, the window is short for impeachment. but mr biden said the president is unfit for his office. he's been an embarrassment to the country. embarrassed us around the world. not worthy. not worthy to hold that office. if we were six months out, we should be doing everything to get him out of office. impeaching him again, trying to invoke the 25th amendment, whatever it took to get him out of office, but i am focused now on us taking control as president and vice president on the 20th and to get our agenda moving as quickly as we can. let's get more from our washington correspondent lebo diseko. democrats are saying they could

introduce articles of impeachment as early as monday. do we have any idea exactly what they would be accused the president of? i think that's still in process, nancy pelosi still talking to members of the democratic party but i found joe biden positive response after that speech really, really interesting. he was asked several times whether he would support impeachment and he said that would be a decision for congress. also asked what if someone the democratic process fund you up and askedif democratic process fund you up and asked if he would say that was a decision for you to make. of course we know that if impeachment articles are broad, if that process is started and it does delay the confirmation ofjoe biden‘s cabinet, and of course that means his work, his agenda and stuff that he wants to achieve cannot be done in quite the same way. as if he had a full cabinet with them. very critical of

donald trump and did not go as far as saying impeachment should not happen but very interesting watching him walk this very fine balance between putting forward what his focus is a boy she says was the virus and vaccines in the economy, and saying that he wants to really just get on and do his job. interestingly he said that the best way to get donald trump out of office is to swear me in. president trump yesterday somewhat reluctantly issued a video in which he said now issued a video in which he said now is the time for healing and reconciliation, but then this morning he tweeted that he would not come tojoe biden‘s inauguration and 110w come tojoe biden‘s inauguration and nowjoe biden has fired right back. yes, joe biden says that the one thing they do agree on, he does not wa nt thing they do agree on, he does not want him at the inauguration either. again, interesting becausejoe biden has really got quite a respect for

the norms and how things have always been done, the history and norms and traditions. he did say that mike pence can be the vice president is very welcome, and i thought there that was a nod to the traditions evenin that was a nod to the traditions even in this situation where things have come in effect, broken down so much in terms of what we would usually expect to see. in terms of donald trump's latest tweet, i would imagine lots of people would say that's what were in keeping with what they would expect from him in terms of what he's been saying over the past few months. i wondered as i watched that video where he condemned the protesters what they must think after having been called to march to the capital by donald trump himself. thank you so much for joining us. let's take a step back now and remind ourselves of the events of the past day or two. our north america editor jon sopel has this report.

the words "horse" and "stable door" come to mind, as contractors are brought in to erect to some proper security around the capitol hill complex. so alarmingly and easily breached by the trump—supporting mob on wednesday night. and the repercussions are still being felt. last night, a chastened and tense president spoke words that had clearly been written for him. i would like to begin by addressing the heinous attack... the change of tone and substance in just 2a hours is startling, whiplash inducing. as they say on school essays, compare and contrast. we are going to walk down to the capitol... we have just been through an intense election and emotions are high but now tempers must be cooled and calm restored. ..you'll never take back our country with weakness, you have to show

strength and you have to be strong... like all americans, i am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. the demonstrators who infiltrated the capitol have defiled the seat of american democracy. ..so, go home, we love you, you're very special... to those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction — you do not represent our country. ..we had an election that was stolen from us, it was a landslide election... a new administration will be inaugurated on january 20th. my focus now turns to ensuring a smooth, orderly and seamless transition of power. this moment calls for healing and reconciliation. in the wake of the riots and the president's incendiary words, he's faced multiple resignations and the threat of removalfrom office. that explains the astonishing volte—face from donald

trump last night. he had no option. and then there's this. just before he spoke, it was confirmed that one of the capitol policeman, brian sicknick, had died from injuries he received while trying to hold the rioters at bay. today, it was ordered that flags should fly at half mast in his honour but they're also flying at half staff or american democracy. joining me now is republican party strategist lanhee chen. thank you so much for being with us. you told the bbc rather prophetically on november seven that this was a precarious time in the united states, and it could be a difficult transition. did you ever think that you would see the us capital being stormed? think that you would see the us capital being stormed ?|j think that you would see the us capital being stormed? i did not this was not something i anticipated. i knew there would be periods of division and rhetoric, but to see, as you put it, perfectly

and passionate american democracy invaded in the way that it was, was truly remarkable. and to know that many of those individuals were there at the behest of president trump, that really is what makes it so incredibly upsetting. so not something i expected to see and certainly not something i wish to see ever again. what is your assessment of the position of the president at this moment in time? he seems increasingly isolated here in washington i'm about not going to quitand washington i'm about not going to quit and also certainly facing impeachment secular as their reporting is accurate he's becoming increasingly isolated. there's a number of people serving in the trump administration who i believe are people of good character and who sincerely wants to work for the american people. fortunately a number of those people are still there, i know there's been calls for people to step aside for her to resign. in my view the best thing these people can do is ensure the orderly transition of power over these next 12 days because although

these next 12 days because although the president is isolated i also don't think he's going anywhere. i don't think he's going anywhere. i don't think he's going anywhere. i don't think it's going to resign, i don't think it's going to resign, i don't think it's going to resign, i don't think you will be removed from office by the impeachment process andi office by the impeachment process and i certainly don't think that his own executive officers and vice president will declare him incapable to govern and evoke the 25th amendment. we are going to have donald trump in the white house for about two more weeks, and during that period of time really the focus is going to be on the transition above all else as the president—elect noted today. and yet house democrats on monday are going to introduce articles of impeachment, they're going to accuse donald trump of incitement of insurrection following wednesday's and storming of the capital. when in fa ct and storming of the capital. when in fact you think that will have on the situation? well, it's going to create, not created, but it's going to continue to move this polarisation that we have in our country and our society ahead. i understand their desire to hold him accountable, i think the proper venue accountable, i think the proper

venue for that frankly is after he leaves office. if the justice department or state attorneys general here in the us want to pursue charges against donald trump there will be free to do so. but the reality is that pursuing an impeachment gambit that we know is going to fail again drawing of the votes are probably not there for it, in my mind that takes our eye off the ball. i think the more important issue at this time should be let's make sure joe biden issue at this time should be let's make surejoe biden gets in there and has the tools he needs to govern starting with the first minute he is sworn in. of course it's very personalfor sworn in. of course it's very personal for the lawmakers, they draughted these articles of impeachment while they were sheltering in place during that mob storm in the capital. what is your assessment of donald trump and trumpism, and the republican party once he leaves office in 12 days' time? is there going to be a split between trump and the republican party or is he still going to be a dominant figure? i do think will be an important figure, dominance might be too strong. donald trump has the

support of a number of republican voters a really it's a question of what he's going to do. is he going to go off and try and create his own political party separate from the republican party? is he going to use his largess on social media to try to create a new media networks? there's also some questions about what he will do. the fate of the party u nfortu nately for too what he will do. the fate of the party unfortunately for too long has been tied to the fate of one man. and i do think it's time for the republican party to return again to a question of what it will do as a governing party, having a vision behind what republicans will do if they are elected. that sort of exercise i think will be a much more productive one and trying to continue to curry favour with donald trump or those around donald trump. thank you so much for that analysis. despite the chaos of the past few days here in washington, many of donald trump's core supporters outside of america's capital are standing firm. the bbc‘s larry madowo has been getting opinions from a conservative stretch of rural virginia.

republican denver riggleman played with fire by officiating a same—sex wedding in a conservative part of virginia, and got burned. he lost his seat in congress. now he is pouring political wisdom from his craft distillery. you can get drunk on your own stuff! he calls the storming of the us capitol building domestic terrorism. so, they get stuck in these echo chambers and when people in leadership, they appeal to that sort of insanity, it is weaponised. so, what motivates people to go and storm the capitol? they have been radicalised over years, right? and this started with qanon in 2017, 2018, and now you are seeing the metastasisation of that. the white house has condemned the violence and president trump committed to an orderly transition of power. some of his supporters disagree with the mob for occupying the capitol but they say they were just patriots fighting for election integrity. you know, everybody that was there

at that rally were not committing felons breaking into the us congress. i know many friends that were there that are just great americans, they love our country. and i support freedom of speech, i support being able to protest our government and being able to protest all across our nation. the sun may be setting on the trump presidency but trumpism is not fading away, especially here in rural america, where his supporters have been emboldened by his recent grievances about the election. he does what he says he'll do. and has done what he said. and it's for the american people. i feel that. jon russell is about to launch a run for mayor of culpeper, virginia, as a republican. he still believes trump's win was stolen. in my heart of hearts, i do believe that. can i prove it? no. the thing that we learned the most

from the rally is that our country going to continue to be divided. but trump has also lost some supporters along the way, even here in deep red virginia. as the president took office, and the longer he was in office, it seemed like his behaviour was more and more unbecoming of what a president should be. he is too much on social media, too much tweeting about what he's doing and that's not what a president should be doing. still, many who voted for president trump twice want him to run again in 202a. critics call it the cult of trump but they don't mind the label. larry madowo, bbc news, virginia. the uk has recorded the highest number of daily covid—related deaths since the start of this pandemic.

1,325 more people have lost their lives. close to 80,000 deaths in the united kingdom. to add to that grim figure — a record number of new cases — more than 68,000 positive tests recorded in the past 2a hours. it comes as the mayor of london sadiq khan has declared a "major incident" in the capital. here's our health editor, hugh pym. two brothers enjoying a swim on a foreign holiday. exactly a year later, one of them died with covid—19. he's a big chap, there's no denying that, he can swim all day long. he was running on christmas day. james remembers his brother, david, who was 36. they both tested positive and were isolating but david's condition worsened overnight and he didn't survive. we were going to sit there and rough it out. well, it didn't work for us

and my advice would be... i don't want to scaremonger people and i don't want to be dramatic, but i think people... if you're in that situation, if you're sat at home and you're starting to really struggle for breath, ring 111. a postmortem will try to establish whether there were other factors in david's death. as more lives are lost and case numbers increase, london's mayor has declared a major incident. this involves stepping up coordinated efforts of emergency services and a call for financial support from the government. the pressure on hospitals mean delays for ambulances handing over patients, with waiting time up 36% in the south east in december, according to data leaked to bbc news. covid patient numbers are rising in most parts of the country. extra staff are being drafted into intensive care units, including dental specialists. i didn't really think about how hard it would be. even patient rolls, to end of life.

it's somebody's loved one. the latest survey of community infections by the office for national statistics suggests that last week in northern ireland, one in 200 people had the virus, with case rates no longer decreasing. in scotland, it was one in 115, with case numbers on the increase. in wales, one in 70, though case rates were coming down. in england, one in 50 had the virus, with case numbers on the increase. the worst—affected area was london, with one in 30. the latest r number range, 1—1.li was higher than the previous estimate. anything above one suggests the virus was accelerating. as some in priority groups queued today to get their jabs, it was confirmed that a third vaccine has been approved by uk regulators. it's made by us company moderna and the government has ordered 17 million doses, though they are unlikely to be available before the spring.

right now, senior health officials are focused on the spread of the virus. they're worried there are more people out and about than during the first lockdown and they think there could be more than 100,000 new infections per day, including those who haven't been tested. hugh pym, bbc news. chris hopson is chief executive of nhs providers — the membership organisation for the national health service hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services that treat patients in england. he's been giving his response to that record number of coronavirus deaths and cases in the uk. well, they are very alarming. i mean, these numbers are going up and they are going up rapidly. all around you are seeing infection rates go up, you are seeing the number of people dying going up. we are seeing the number of people in hospital with covid going up, and itjust really reinforces how serious this is. and if i had one message for your viewers, certainly

in the united kingdom, and i suspect, to be frank, more widely, is it's really, really important to observe the rules on social contact. the only tool we have at the moment to restrict the spread of this virus until we get the vaccines in place is to reduce social contact, so i would just urge everybody please, please follow the rules. that will reduce the number of people who die, it will reduce patient harm, it will give the nhs the best possible chance that we really need to treat every single patient who needs help. as we were hearing a major incident has been declared in london by the mayor, sadiq khan. he explained what had led to that decision: the nhs in london is at risk of being overwhelmed. the staff there are working heroically, but it is a real risk over the course of the next couple of weeks, unless the virus reduces and there are fewer people going to hospital, we could run out of hospital beds.

across london on average, one out of 30 londoners now has this virus, but in some parts of london it is one out of 20. the number of people now in hospital with covid is 35% more than the peak in the spring. sweden's coronavirus strategy has always stood out from the crowd, because the country has never had a lockdown. but now — after becoming one of the european countries with the highest number of cases per person — sweden has passed a new pandemic law. from sunday the government will be able to limit numbers on public transport and have the power to close down venues including shops, gyms and cinemas. prime minister stefan lofven has already announced plans to limit numbers in certain public places in relation to how big they are. our reporter maddy savage is in stockholm and has more on the new laws. so far about how the government is putting to use those new powers which come into force on sunday after this recent vote

is that there will be a limit on the number of people entering public places including shops and gyms. managers will have to make sure that people have at least ten metres square around them, so ten metres squared per person in each venue. they have also announced that there's going to be fines for those who hold parties of more than eight people in private venues, including places like apartment block, rooms 01’ reception venues, banquet halls and those kinds of venues. until now there's only been a ban on events that are considered public, such as demonstrations, gigs or concerts. so we are starting to see, i of a shift towards tougher measures here in sweden. it should be said that although the focus has largely been on voluntary recommendations there have been other bans and other sort of tougher measures over the last few months. things like the closure of pubs after eight o'clock in the evening and limiting numbers there to four people per table.

but i think what we are seeing here with this law is a shift towards the toughest kinds of measures seen so far in sweden, and certainly the potential to introduce even tougher measures in future as a result. around 9000 people have died with coronavirus in sweden, a country ofjust 10 million. on thursday the public health agency said that an average 60 to 70 deaths a day are happening at the moment, which means it is one of the worst affected nations in europe in relation to population size. he has been released after his 15 year sentence was cut short. this is the carnage she allegedly masterminded. the 2002 bombings that killed more than 200 people. to this

day, it remains indonesia's deadliest terrorist attack. a dark day in the country's history. the 82—year—old was spiritual leader of an al-qaeda inspired a group that was blamed for the bombings in bali and the attack of the marriott in ja ka rta and the attack of the marriott in jakarta in 2003. despite being strongly linked to the attacks, he was never convicted and has denied all charges. instead, he was jailed for his links to a militant training grant camp. the decision to free him has drawn mixed reactions in indonesia as australia, the country with the most victims in the bombings. they have been released consistent with the indonesian justice system corrupted does not make it any easier for any

australian to accept that. ultimately. at those who are responsible for the murder of australians would now be free. he said he did not expect scheer to walk free. i thought it ultimate closure for may, 15 years we will not see him walk out ofjail. and now we are going to see him walk out ofjailand i'm thinking now. not just the memories come back but it's the fear factor that he's going to walk out with the heroes welcome. the fear factor that he's going to walk out with the heroes welcomem 2014 he pledged allegiance to the so—called islamic state militant group from prison. security analysts say that he does not have much authority over the group now and that his power has waned over the yea rs. that his power has waned over the years. the concern remains that the radical cleric could influence other militant groups. backin back ina back in a few moments, thanks for watching. bye—bye.

hello there. some of the snow today has been pretty disruptive especially for north yorkshire. but the snow in the sleet will be easing overnight. many places will be clear in temperatures dropping very cold. we will see freezing fog developing across southern britain. this is the legacy of the sleet and snow which we've had across northern england and wales to the day. eventually clearing away. many places turning drier and when the far northwest of scotland. that is cold here as it will be elsewhere. the hard frost in places, —11 —12 across central and eastern parts of the uk. we start saturday on a cold frosty note. bright and plenty of sunshine and some freezing fog across southern areas. it could lift into patchy cloud. most places things dry, the weather front pushing

at the weather in scotland and a strength westerly wind bringing our breaks or rain and a little bit of snow over the high ground. temperatures lifting a little bit but a cold day to come for most areas. through saturday night, the weather front continues to bring sleet and hail snow across scotland and it sinks further southwards into northern england and wales and even here we can see when reaches the high ground. central and southern areas it will stay dry will clear spells of a variable cloud and a cold frosty one here come a little less cold further north. part two of the weekend come area of high—pressure brinks dry weather to the southern half of the country and the weather front struggling, scotland will bring further rain at times across the west, and it will be breezy too. snow again over the high ground and further this out the head after a bit of a cloudy start in the southeast it will brighten up. here are some good spells of rain and a chilly further north, cloudy breeze and a little less cold, temperatures seven

or 8 degrees here for a five further south. heading into next week, high pressure begins to retreat away from the south although it will be close by enough to bring drier with a further north, will have a frontal system moving in off the atlantic and that will feed them all the air, cold air never too far away in the north and east. into next week, generally not as cold as it has been in there will be rainy times and hail snow in the north and the driest of the weather will be towards the south. goodbye for now.

this is bbc world news. the headlines. president trump says he won't attend the inauguration ofjoe biden. mr trump had earlier promised to ensure ‘a smooth and orderly transition of power‘. it's as democrats say they plan to move forward with articles of impeachment. a police officer is the fifth person to die from the violence on capitol hill. a murder investigation has been launched into his death. police say brian sicknick was "injured while physically engaging with protesters". the uk records its highest daily death toll since the pandemic began — more than 13 hundred deaths reported today. and a major incident has been declared in london , as hospitals across the uk struggle to cope. the moderna vaccine has been approved for use in the uk. it's the third vaccine to get the green light and 17 million