aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington. let's get some of the day's other news.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

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.tmas? that‘s exactly what six—year—old oscar 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 oscar 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 to have to be poorly anymore. please get some money to oscar. they raised three quarters of a million 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 m

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle.amantha crompvoets, the sociologist whose secret 2016 report into cultural issues in the australian special forces sparked the official investigation into war crimes committed in afghanistan. she says it was a bittersweet moment when the findings were released. i think ithinki i think i had mixed feelings. great sadness, but also vindication. based on what you discovered as part of your report, what do you think needs to be done to remedy that? general campbell outlined a number of things that have been happening over the last couple of years and that will continue to happen including some organisational restructuring of the special operations unit, and the disbandment of one. in terms of things that can be done, immediately, to change some of the cultural problems that were identified within some parts of the military, what do you think is the most urgent step that needs to be taken? some of the findings really do go to some of the breakdown in oversight mechanisms, so the way that en

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.ng for a change to the way romance is portrayed on screen. this year she's been named on the bbc 100 women list. and she says it's about time we stopped making films where women fall in love with men who are abusive. hi, this is mahira khan, and i'm an actorfrom pakistan. also, i'm a unatr goodwill ambassador for my country. i've been approached from the beginning of my career — and not as an actor, even when i was a vj — i was approached to do a lot of fairness cream products and skin—whitening products. it doesn't make sense to me, it never made sense to me. so i'm endorsing that idea that a darker girl, man, whatever is not as attractive asafairergirl? itjust never made sense to me. let me tell you guys about this photograph. this was the first time i went as a unatr goodwill ambassador to one of the camps. this one was in karachi. we make passing judgements on refugees — for example, in pakistan, you know? there is a certain idea for what that the refugees have brought into pakista

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin. just as a donald trump is due to speak shortly.e had some big temperature contrasts across the uk on thursday. in the south, temperatures got to a ten or 11 degrees in the sunshine, but across the north it was much warmer than that with highs of 18 degrees in durham and widely across northern scotland, 15 or 16 degrees. the reason we had those big contrasts in that temperatures comes about because of, in part, where the air came from. the start of the month, this cooler air in the south was sat across canada, whereas this much milder airfurther north was sat around the bahamas and that is partly why we had those high temperatures across northern areas, the fern effect also helped boost the temperaturse and bring that warm air down to the surface. looking at the weather picture overnight, those differences in air masses lead to quite different weather overnight. mist and fog again for england and wales with those temperatures in the countryside dropping below freezing, so frost in places. scotland and northern ireland, it stays quit

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in washington.ling for a change to the way romance is portrayed on screen. this year she's been named on the bbc 100 women list. and she says it's about time we stopped making films where women fall in love with men who are abusive. hi, this is mahira khan, and i'm an actorfrom pakistan. also, i'm a unatr goodwill ambassador for my country. i've been approached from the beginning of my career — and not as an actor, even when i was a vj — i was approached to do a lot of fairness cream products and skin whitening products. it doesn't make sense to me, it never made sense to me. so i'm endorsing that idea that a darker girl, man, whatever is not as attractive asafairergirl? itjust never made sense. let me tell you guys about this photograph. this was the first time i went as a unatr goodwill ambassador to one of the camps. this one was in karachi. we make passing judgements on refugees — for example, in pakistan, you know? there is a certain idea for what that refugees have brought into pakistan. and t

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle. will head an independent investigation into how the panorama programme secured an interview with princess diana in 1995. the inquiry will look at how reporter martin bashir obtained the interview with the princess, how much the bbc knew of his methods, and how effective the bbc‘s subsequent investigation was. tonight, prince william's office said they tentatively welcomed the investigation and called it a step in the right direction. a lorry driver charged with the manslaughter of 39 our home affairs correspondent daniel sandford reports from the old bailey. an airtight lorry trailer containing 39 vietnamese migrants, being dropped off at zeebrugge port last october. at the wheel, eamonn harrison, a young lorry driver from northern ireland. by the time the ferry carrying the trailer sailed up the river thames just east of london, all 39 migrants had suffocated to death. mo robinson, another lorry driver from northern ireland, collected the trailer. when he opened the door, there was a

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle. much more on our website.ther news. the uk, australia, canada, new zealand and the us have issued a joint statement accusing china of trying to silence critical voices in hong kong. they've called on beijing to reinstate elected members of the territory's legislature after they were dismissed without apparent cause last week. the group of five nations say this was a clear breach of china's legally—binding commitments to protect freedoms in hong kong. in the us, safety regulators have cleared boeing's 737—max plane to fly again, lifting the grounding orders put in place in march last year after two deadly accidents. pilots will get extra safety training and modifications will be made to existing aircraft. stay with us on bbc news. still to come, the uk's four nations are trying to agree a common approach to the covid pandemic, but will it be enough to let everyone have a normal christmas? music. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her a

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin.ent. he nowjust needs pennsylvania, with its 20 electoral college votes, or two other states in order to win. donald trump has a hard task — he must win pennsylvania and take three other states to remain president. let's get more from our correspondent, michelle fleury, who's in philadelphia for us. it will be a big win for whoever gets it, and it is looking incredibly tight? yes, as things currently stand, we understand that donald trump has a leader about 1.596, donald trump has a leader about 1.5%, or100,000 donald trump has a leader about 1.5%, or 100,000 votes. donald trump has a leader about 1.5%, or100,000 votes. what donald trump has a leader about 1.5%, or 100,000 votes. what is worth knowing is that when it comes to mail—in votes in the city where i am standing, philadelphia, there are about 100,000 votes left and we are waiting to hear which way they go. why does this matter? because there are 20 electoral votes in the state of pennsylvania, enough to getjoe biden to the mag

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin.and robin swanson, democratic strategist and former spokesperson for the california democratic party. thank you so much forjoining us and we are sure this is a busy time. talking about the angry rhetoric and how contentious it is. lisa, if i could start with you. the lawsuits, the calls for stopping voting or continuing with counts, how damaging do you think this is for the whole process and how the us is seen?|j think process and how the us is seen?” think there's a confidence in the election system, the electoral system and i think the lawsuits are to ensure that every legal vote is counted and those who voted legally should absolutely be counted and those that are not voted legally, we need to be concerned about. that seems fair enough, doesn't it? of course, i think everyone wants the votes counted and i think it is important that votes continue to be counted, especially because our military folks were overseas, those are the folks that are most likely to be voting by mail them for

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle.rrespondent anthony zurcher, who's in washington. so trump's supporters clearly believe the election was rigged, but is he running out of time to prove that it was? he is. there are certain hard deadlines that will be coming up very soon that will make it all but impossible for donald trump to challenge his election. states across the country are certifying their election results, and on 14 december the electoral couege and on 14 december the electoral college of electors will gather in state capitals to cast their votes. and injanuary, state capitals to cast their votes. and in january, us state capitals to cast their votes. and injanuary, us congress will certify those votes. so while donald trump and his lawyers will continue to talk about widespread voter fraud, as long as they are not presenting of any evidence in these courts of the widespread voter fraud that would overturn the election results in these key swing states, it is only a matter of time before it is only a matter of

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin. that is wisconsin for you.and philadelphia, in pennsylvania, two of the states that have not declared. it does not look like feverish activity overnight. but they are still counting, trying to bring a close on the votes. we will keep across that here. we have the business implications coming right up. don't go away. hello there. it looks like the weather should even out a bit more, i think, for friday. certainly compared with thursday, where we had the wind blowing over the pennines, bringing some sunshine in durham and temperatures reaching 18 degrees. whereas across southern parts of england, when that fog formed, it lingered into the afternoon in some places and temperatures only eight or nine celsius. now, it's quite chilly early in the morning across more southern areas of the uk. where we have the clearer skies, a pinch of frost. further north there is more cloud around. but where we have those clearer skies in england and wales, there's some mist and fog, particularly towards the west country and the sou

aleem maqbool, bbc news, in the florida panhandle. time now for the weather. hello there.s arctic blast is going to be quite brief because milder air looms in the atlantic and will arrive on friday for many areas. so today, cold. it will be windy as well to start with, and we'll have a mixture of sunshine and showers. the pressure chart shows why it's windy — northerly winds, lots of isobars across northern and eastern areas, hence the gales — but this ridge of high pressure will continue to nudge in through the course of the day, so the winds become lighter and will also kill off many of the showers, too. behind me there is that milder air with the frontal system that will start to make inroads on friday. so, today starts cold, windy, gales across northern and eastern areas, wintry showers continuing across scotland. these will tend to ease down. and we'll have some showers across england and wales, these becoming confined towards the south east. many places seeing a lot of sunshine into the afternoon. the cloud will start to thicken up, though, across northern ireland ah

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin. do stay with us bbc news. hello there.ere we had the wind blowing over the pennines, bringing some sunshine in durham and temperatures reaching 18 degrees. whereas across southern parts of england, when that fog formed, it lingered into the afternoon in some places and temperatures only eight or nine celsius. now, it's quite chilly early in the morning across more southern areas of the uk. where we have the clearer skies, a pinch of frost. further north there is more cloud around. but where we have those clearer skies in england and wales, there's some mist and fog, particularly towards the west country and the south—east of wales in the morning. it'll lift fairly readily, mind you, as the breeze picks up and we get sunshine developing widely. and that cloud, quite low cloud, moving northwards across scotland and northern ireland and some sunshine coming in here as well. the winds picking up in the south—west through the day. temperatures not quite as high as they were on thursday, notjust to the east of the pennines but a

aleem maqbool, bbc news, milwaukee, wisconsin.ected compared with 47 for the democrats, with only a few seats outstanding. the democrats had hoped to flip the republicans' current majority, giving them the power to obstruct the plans of a second—term president trump or push through the agenda of a first—term president biden. the democrats, meanwhile, look set to keep control of the house of representatives. in arizona, with 86% of the votes counted, joe biden holds a slender advantage over donald trump. the southwestern state was won by donald trump in 2016, but biden currently leads by around 70,000 votes. from phoenix, our north america correspondent sophie long joins me. sophie, just how important is this count for both candidates? well, it is pretty important, george, and pretty tight. as the race stands at the moment, in terms of numbers, there remain 450,000 votes uncounted. of those, about 300,000 here are in maricopa county, where phoenix is, the major population centre of arizona. a little bit more liberal leaning, perhap

aleem maqbool reports.as 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 airport saw their busiest day since mid—march. there were still many 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