their case — as the british socialite says she will not testify in the sex trafficking case. she denies all wrongdoing. the united nations again warns that all sides in ethiopia's civil war are committing �*severe�* human rights violations— more than a year after the conflict began. here in britain a crushing by—election defeat has dealt another blow to the authority of the prime minister, borisjohnson. his conservative party lost a seat it had held for almost two—hundred years. the result comes in the middle of a turbulent period for mrjohnson, whose party and government have been plagued with allegations of corruption and breaking covid rules by holding christmas parties during lockdown. on friday night the country's top civil servant, the cabinet secretary simon case, stepped aside from leading the inquiry into those parties, after it emerged an event had been held in his own office. our political editor, laura kuenssberg, reports. two, one... cheering. they might not do subtle. it turns out that if you take the people for granted, there is a price to pay. but there was nothing subtle about the lib dems�* dramatic burst of the tory bubble in this by—election. thousands upon thousands of voters switched sides. anger with the conservatives means a new lib dems on their way to the commons. i think this is a watershed moment and i think we brought new hope to the whole nation who have been so worried and fed up with borisjohnson. we have now beaten the conservatives in two of their safest seats this year. cheering and applause. at about 4:15am, the liberal democrats smashed what had been a tory majority of over 20,000 in north shropshire. tired but jubilant after weeks of claims of sleaze and misbehaviour in downing street. borisjohnson, the party is over. thank you very much, thank you. many of the prime minister's mps pinned the blame for this staggering result in the chaos under his roof. does he? i'm responsible for everything that the government does and of course i take a personal responsibility. what people have been hearing is just a constant litany of stuff about politics and politicians and... stuff that isn't about them. but it keeps coming. it has emerged this man's team, simon case, the most senior civil servant in the country, had a virtual quiz in the office, called a christmas party, during lockdown. he was the one meant to be investigating whitehall parties. but tonight, miraculously, he stepped aside. another revered, perhaps even feared civil servant, sue grey, will ask the questions instead. 232. shameful! it is just the latest in a series of missteps and mistakes for number ten. it began when the government tried to change the rules on mps' behaviour when a tory was found to have broken them. forgive my absence during some of the morning... that unleashed a torrent of claims about big money for second jobs. laughter. then the cringeworthy footage of number ten staffjoking about their christmas party. and then on tuesday, the biggest rebellion against this government so far. around half of tory backbenchers voted against plans for covid passports. if more limits on our lives are needed, the prime minister simply can't count on their support. borisjohnson is no stranger to drama, to epic highs and chaotic lows, but the political danger to him right now is real and intense. being pounded by voters in what should be the safest of tory seats is the finale of a terrible month, brought about in part by a series of mistakes and misjudgments in number ten itself. there are strong public and fierce private calls for him to change how he does business, and warnings tonight of what might happen if he does not or cannot. the prime minister is now in last orders time. two strikes already, one earlier this week in the vote in the commons and now this. one more strike and he's out. the prime minister has always had enemies inside, but a former leader who backed him warns he has to change. he is our leader and he will lead us to the next election. he will? are you sure of that? well, as long as he wishes to do it, he has the right to do it. the party has to get behind him and he has to deliver on the basis that downing street and the departments are themselves structured and disciplined and that will be the key litmus test. so you are essentially saying he has to change and he has to make sure that the way his government operates has to change, or else? well, that is always the signal sent by the public when they feel that things have gone wrong and the answer to that is very simple. it is not more of the same. number ten may take some comfort from the fact this by—election was a lib dem, not a labour breakthrough but the cold reality is hits the prime minister who has been put on notice. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street. we begin with more evidence — if any were needed — that the 0micron strain of coronavirus is continuing to spread rapidly around the world. the headline figures are coming from europe — in particular, the uk. in the last 2a hours, for a third successive day, the number of infections has reached a new record high. just over 93—thousand cases were confirmed in that time frame — that's nearly 60% more than a week ago. the increase in people being treated in hospital though, is less dramatic — 163 across the uk — just 2% more. it's unclear whether this means the new variant is weaker or the uk public have gained more protection. meanwhile — in the us — cases are jumping sharply too. america's top expert, says it's vital everyone gets their boosterjab. we are facing a very important delta surge and we are looking over our shoulder at an oncoming 0micron surge. clearly, unvaccinated individuals are really at a high risk of serious involvement, including hospitalisation. the fully vaccinated are doing much better off. the optimum protection is fully vaccinated, plus a boost, so the bottom line of what we have been telling you all along, it is critical to be vaccinated. if you are vaccinated, it is critical for optimum protection to get boosted. elsewhere, in europe, countries are rapidly introducing new measures to try to slow the spread of the 0micron variant. ireland has announced new restrictions, ordering bars and restaurants to close from early on sunday. the moves were introduced despite opposition from a number of lawmakers in the parties of the governing coalition. denmark has also reported new cases at record levels. the government there is closing cinemas, theatres and concert halls, and restricting the opening hours of restaurants. the french prime minister jean castex has warned the 0micron variant will become dominant in the country early next year. france has mobilized the army to help with vaccinations, has banned big public parties at new year, and new travel restrictions on people coming from the uk are due to come into force in a few hours' time. with health care systems across europe now starting to come under strain, the president of the european commission says vaccination is the key to fighting 0micron. we know that our health care systems are of a stretch right now and this is partly linked to the large number of unvaccinated patients. so in conclusion the answer can only be to increase vaccination to occlude children about five years old, boosting and protective measures, that has to be the answer we give to this new variant. it's still only been around a month since the 0micron strain was first identified — and scientists are finding out more about it all the time. a study carried out at imperial college in london suggests that the rate of protection given by having been previously infected with covid, could be as low as i9%. the overall risk of reinfection — or catching covid again — is 5.4 times greater than with the delta variant. but the study seems to confirm that a third, booster shot, can provide around 85% protection against severe illness. let's put all of this into context now with professor peter hotez — the dean of the national school of tropical medicine at the baylor college of medicine in texas. he was asked how worried we should be about 0micron over the festive period. we have a few things going on at the same time. first of all we do have. we expected a big delta wave that would be hitting us around this time. we were looking at a pretty severe delta wave injanuary, that is because we have under vaccinated our us population. we have still only vaccinated about 60% which means 40% are unvaccinated, still lots of holdouts and we can talk about why, but then when he can to 0micron, based on what happened with alpha and delta, where there was a four to six week lag between the peak you were seeing in the uk from the time and picked up in the united states, we once again thought we had four to six weeks, meaning it would happen in the middle ofjanuary, and unfortunately, it looks like that is not the case. it is now gearing up now. tragically, we are going have this combined wave hitting us during the holidays, and then the third piece to this, which not a lot of people talking about, but one that i'm quite concerned about, even after people get the third immunisation, if they are more than a couple of months out from the third immunisation, we are seeing a fair bit of breakthrough symptomatic illness from the 0micron variant, not so much to get them sick enough to land into hospital but enough to knock out the health care workforce, so they have to stay at home, and i think that's the third piece to this, delta, number one, 0micron surge number two, and an already depleted health care workforce now going to have to have a lot of absences, which will add to the stress of our already stressed health care system, so a lot to worry about. let's get some of the day's other news. the world health organisation has issued the emergency approval of a new coronavirus vaccine in india. covovax has been produced by the serum institute of india. it's part of the covax portfolio, an initative to vaccinate more people in lower—income countries. russia says it is extremely disappointed with signals coming from the united states and nato, in response to its demands for security guarantees from the alliance. russia's long list of requests include asking nato to commit to end its expansion. the white house press secretary said there would be no talks with russia on european security without european allies. talks in vienna aimed at salvaging a two—thousand—and—fifteen nuclear deal with iran have been adjourned at tehran�*s request. they are not expected to resume until after christmas. european negotiators have now called on iran to reach a deal as quickly as possible — when discussions restart. diplomats from france, britain and germany reiterated that the negotiations aimed at salvaging the nuclear deal with iran were �*rapidly reaching the end of the road.�* the defence team in the trial of ghislaine maxwell, the british socialite and alleged accomplice of the disgraced late financierjeffrey epstein, has wound up its case, claiming that prosecutors have failed to prove her guilt. maxwell denies eight counts of sex trafficking and other crimes. she chose not to testify. 0ur correspondent nada tawfik has been outside the courthouse in new york. the defence has rested its case today, and it comes after ghislaine maxwell decided not to take the stand in her own defence, as she stood up and address the judge, she said that there was no need to testify because the prosecution had not proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt. so a very defiant response there from ghislaine maxwell, who has been very involved throughout this whole trial, passing notes to her lawyers during cross—examination of the accusers and others who have testified, and her stating that she will not tell her side of the story on the stand. of course, that would have been a very risky strategy, opening her up to intense cross—examination by prosecutors, but really this trial is moving incredibly fast. we are now set to have closing statements from both sides on monday. the defence�*s case, after initially saying they might call 35 witnesses, they rested after calling nine witnesses and none really revealing too much more to help their case. it seems that the defence is really relying on their cross—examination that happened during the prosecution's case of the key four accusers, hoping that they have shown enough doubt injurors minds to avoid a conviction for their client, ghislaine maxwell. you are watching bbc news. the neural structure of by election by liberal democrats. the uk records and other record of covid infections. scientists warned that tougher restrictions will be needed in england very soon to control hospital admissions. the united states has renewed its call for a ceasefire in ethiopia, after the united nations human rights council ordered an independent investigation into violations by all sides in the conflict. state department spokesman ned price said he was gravely concerned by reports detailing the mass detentions and killings of ethnic tigrayans. there's a very large, very vocal ethiopian expat community here in the united states, and they're divided along the same ethnic lines that fuel the conflict. as barbara plett usher now reports. ethiopia's civil war is 7000 miles away and it's right here in this kitchen on this campus. ——canvas gabriel's family is from the northern region of tigre, the epicentre of the conflict, the theme that consumes oui’ art. it's like opening up a channel and a passageway taking us all back there. but what better way to create with painting? there's so many other things i could do with that, i could destroy myself with it. for more than a year the ethiopian army had been battling rebels and their allies. thousands are dead. human rights abuses committed on both side. parts of the country pushed into famine. tigrian�*s in the us a desperate. the ethiopian government has blocked most aid and communication to the north. many have lost contact with their relatives i can't sleep at night because i'm thinking about all of them. who's starving, which were the starving? what you think about what the us is doing? the us stepped in, international community has not stepped in. they've allowed us to just suffer and suffer. so what is it that was about to do, what other options do we have other than to fight back? outside the state department a chance to personally plead their case. we are not ignoring you want to listen to you. don't think that were not thinking of ways to be supportive of all sides of these conflict come of all the communities. what you see here in washington is a reflection of what's happening in ethiopia. the fighting is taking place between ethnic groups and the demonstrations here also showcase those ethnic divisions. across town supporters of the ethiopian government insists that the west as got it wrong. the americans are calling for a cease—fire and negotiations with the rebels who are advancing on the capital. we can't negotiate with terrorists! would you negotiate with isis? no. you wouldn't. so it's not, they are not equal partners. they kill, they raped, pe0ple die~ _ my aunt, my uncle, my family is there. | i don't know if they die are still alive. i the rebel leaders known as the tplf once governed the country with a heavy hand and are deeply resented by many ethiopians. the us is treading a fine line. the americans are talking to the ethiopian government. that's not the engagement that ethiopian people want. what do they want? they want support they don't want support as demonising the government and supporting the cause of the tplf. ethiopians in america where their identities with passion. but they have different views of what ethiopia is and that is deepening. let's go to california now and a trial which has been fascinating america with a mix of money, celebrity and supermarket blood testing. it centres around elizabeth holmes — who made a fortune afterfounding a company which she claimed would revolutionise healthcare — only to be accused of massive—scale fraud. ms holmes was just 19 when she founded theranos in 2003. it promised to develop a �*pinprick�* blood test that could diagnose over 200 different diseases. but she was accused of lying to investors and fraud. as her three months trial is about to come to an end, i spoke to criminal law professor robert weisberg about the arguments heard in this case. powerful heard in this case. evidence that this holmes powerful evidence that this holmes lied to investors, lied to potential investors of her product which is the walgreens pharmacy chain put up quite knowingly fabricated data that allegedly supported the efficacy of her product. and generally swindled the world, if you will. it was some of the most devastating testimony came from her own former web director who testified that he told her on numerous times that the claim she was making were not at all supported by the data better lob three mac lab was producing. and she tried to brush them off and clearly was looking for a way out and some alternate version of the story that she could sell.— alternate version of the story that she could sell. given that then, that she could sell. given that then. what — that she could sell. given that then, what is _ that she could sell. given that then, what is the _ that she could sell. given that then, what is the alternate . then, what is the alternate version of the story, what is the main pillar of her defence? she actually is presenting several different versions of herself. it's almost if she's asking the jury which everyone works. what is the silicon valley story that lay people, people who are not silicon valley experts have to understand that great innovation occurs through trial and error and we have to tolerate some error. in statement she made which have been denounced as live work shall we say, aspirational. then we shift to some other story she told about yourself as she is, she didn't really have that much control of the company and that a lot of the bad acts attributed to her were really done by her then partner andindeed really done by her then partner and indeed her personal partner who himself will be on trial. taking that a step further, she put on evidence that she had been emotionally abused in a relationship he had virtually taken her mental autonomy away and then she apparently said she had no control over. she has essentially been brainwashed with the veterans of other matters she actually did a strange manoeuvre by sort of confessing to the jury yes, i shouldn't of done that but i feel really bad about it as if she's making a plea for sympathy and offer innocence. in japan at least 27 people are feared dead after a fire broke out in a building in the city of osaka. police say they're investigating whether the fire was started deliberately. officials were alerted to the blaze on friday morning, with footage showing blackened windows on the fourth floor after it was extinguished. 0ur tokyo correspondent, rupert wingfield—hayes gave us this update. from what the police and the fire service in osaka are now saying, it is looking more and more likely that this was a deliberate arson attack on this clinic. eyewitnesses have apparently told the police and fire service there that they saw a man in his 50s or 60s entering the building this morning, carrying some sort of container inside a paper bag that was leaking what they said was flammable liquid. this is all anecdotal, it is certainly not confirmed. the identity of the alleged attacker, we have no idea about at this moment. but it sort of does fit together, because all of the people who are dead appear to have been inside this one small clinic on the fourth floor of this building, and it appears that the fire began or was set at the entrance to the clinic, and then took hold very quickly, and because of that, all of the people inside the clinic essentially had nowhere to go. it is an old building, clearly the fire safety standards for this building were not very good, there was no second fire escape out of the back of the building, so people who were trapped inside the clinic had nowhere to go, they were just overcome by smoke and apparently, you know, died on the spot fairly quickly. the fire services were called out extremely quickly, they were there within minutes, they put out this fire within about half an hour, it was completely out. none of the buildings or other floors were even affected by the fire. so it wasn't really a big fire and that's why it's so shocking to see how many people have apparently died. 12 people are confirmed to have died in the philippines due to super typhoon rai — but as authorities are still trying to reach the devastated areas, they say the death toll could rise. the typhoon made landfall on the holiday island of siargao on friday, bringing high winds and heavy rainfall. the storm has levelled homes on islands along its path, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and the un says some 13 million people may be affected. sara monetta reports. after a the storm at the devastation is everywhere. on friday super typhoon ri pummeled the southern and central regions of the philippines. tearing roofs off buildings, uprooting trees. toppling power poles and flooding villages. these paradise islands popular tourist destinations are not cut off from the world. local airports are damaged and communications are down. more than 300,000 people had to flee their homes and now they are in dire need for help. we had to bring ready—made meals because people are on roofs and flooded areas and they waited to be assistant for the we've already had the eight fed 30,000 people hot meals and we are looking at not only the evacuation service but those who have stayed in their homes. they have lost their homes completely. they have lost their homes completely-— they have lost their homes comletel. ,, ., . ., completely. search teams are workin: completely. search teams are working to — completely. search teams are working to reach _ completely. search teams are working to reach all _ completely. search teams are working to reach all those - working to reach all those stranded by the floods. several people are still missing. rescuers fear the death troll might rise. the philippines is often affected by such huge typhoons. but the effects of climate change may be making them more frequent and more powerful. meaning seems like these may become increasingly common in the years to come. plenty more on all those stories online of course. plenty more on all those stories you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ l vaughanjones. this is bbc news. bye—bye. hello. scotland and northern ireland have the lion's share of friday's sunshine, even these areas are likely to turn cloudier as we go on through the weekend. a weekend which will for most places, bring plenty of cloud. despite that, it will be dry, it will gradually turn cooler as that weekend goes on, as well. there is an area of high pressure right across the united kingdom giving plenty of settled weather as we go through the weekend. but trapped underneath that, there is a lot of cloud. now, where there have been clear spells overnight and into the morning, in scotland and northern england in particular, this is where we will wake up to the lowest temperatures and there will be frost in places too. but there will also be some sunny spells and fog across the eastern side of england in particular, dense in places, some patches lingering all day in a few spots and thick enough to be affecting travel. in terms of where we see some sunny spells, scotland, northern england, westernmost parts of wales, far south of england, maybe a few brighter breaks in northern ireland at times. temperatures mainly around six or 10 celsius, but there it will be colder, fog lingers and there will be parts of scotland that stay just above freezing all day long. as we go on through saturday night, again, its way out for all those breaks in the cloud, particularly into parts of northern england and scotland, you'll find the lowest temperatures that create the risk of seeing a frost going into sunday, picking up the areas in blue here. the cloud, temperatures will not fall too far from where we've been during the day. but that cloud will be back again on sunday and again, there's a risk of seeing some dense fog patches in places to begin the day. in terms of any sunshine on sunday, notjust the higher ground in scotland, northern england and wales venturing into the hills you're most likely to see some sunshine through the valleys below, may well be stuck underneath cloud. and overall, it is trending cooler on sunday and getting colder still as we go into the new week. now, high pressure will eventually give way as we go deeper through the week. but then the big question mark about how quickly these weather systems from the atlantic, or indeed if they will at all, move—in and provide a change to more unsettled weather in time for christmas. so, colderfor a time next week, more widespread overnight frost. but if you're looking at your app and the forecast online, yes, it may look as the returns and settled just before christmas. but there's still a lot to play for in the details. this is bbc news, the headlines. borisjohnson says he takes "personal responsibility" for the conservatives' crushing by—election defeat in north shropshire. the scale of the loss has prompted some of his mps to question his leadership and to urge him to make changes. another 93—thousand cases of covid have been recorded across the uk, a record total for the third day in a row. the government's scientific advisers have said more stringent restrictions will be need to be implemented "very soon" in england to prevent covid hospital admissions reaching three thousand a day. ghislaine maxwell, who's on trial in the us on sex trafficking charges, has told the court she won't be giving evidence. ms maxwell said there was no need to testify because the prosecution hadn't proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. she denies grooming girls for the late convicted paedophile, jeffrey epstein. now on bbc news, it's time for the media show