further restrictions or without the need for a lockdown. find further restrictions or without the need for a lockdown.— need for a lockdown. and men's tennis number— need for a lockdown. and men's tennis number one _ need for a lockdown. and men's tennis number one novak- need for a lockdown. and men's i tennis number one novak djokovic need for a lockdown. and men's - tennis number one novak djokovic is going to the australian open after being granted a medical exemption from requiring a covid—19 vaccine. prince andrew's lawyers have been trying to convince a us judge to dismiss the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him. they say his accuser, virginia giuffre, can't sue, because of damages she accepted in 2009, from the paedophile, jeffrey epsteen, in return for dropping her claims against him and any other "potential defendant". prince andrew has consistently denied her allegations. 0ur royal correspondent, jonny dymond, has the latest. she says she was sexually assaulted by prince andrew three times. he denies every allegation and says he can't remember meeting her. today, his lawyers argued the whole case should be dismissed. the civil case rests partly on this meeting in london, a night when virginia guiffre, here aged 17, says she was forced to have sex with prince andrew. it �*s something the prince has consistently denied. you can say categorically that you don't recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her, dancing with her at tramp or going on to have sex with her in a bedroom at a house in belgravia? i can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with her, then, or at any other time? none whatsoever. today in new york the lawyers battled in court for the first time. at the centre of their arguments, a deal struck between andrew's accuser and his formerfriend, jeffrey epstein. epstein paid virginia guiffre $500,000. their deal released any other person who could have been included as a potential defendant from further legal challenge by virginia guiffre. prince andrew's lawyers needed to persuade the judge that the 2009 deal covered the prince. the court heard... the prince's lawyers demanded detail of the allegations against their client but they were slapped down by thejudge. finally, questions were raised as to whether the prince could even use the 2009 deal. he is a third party, the court heard. thejudge said... the argument put forward by ms giuffre roberts' counsel, david boies, was strong. i thought the arguments put forward by prince andrew's counsel really met with what we call in america a "very hot bench." the judge was simply not buying what they were selling. even if this case is dismissed, the prince is, say veteran royal watchers, badly damaged. when it comes to the monarchy, the monarchy is obviously an institution that is big enough to rise above what has happened, but when it comes to prince andrew, one has to say that one can see no role in royal life for him in the immediate future or the intermediate future. now, they wait. the judge in new york says a decision will come pretty soon. jonny dymond, bbc news. nada tawfik is in new york. she explained more about today's proceedings. this was a crucial moment in this case because prince andrew is asking a new york case because prince andrew is asking a new york 'ud-e case because prince andrew is asking a new york 'ud-e to case because prince andrew is asking a new york 'ud-e to the case because prince andrew is asking a new york 'ud-e to the out this a new yorkjudge to the out this entire civil case against him that was brought by virginia. what he is saying is that he is covered, he has immunity under a settlement agreement that was reached by virginia and jeffrey epstein in florida in 2009 in courts, his lawyer said it's unquestionable that the duke of york could have been sued at that time in that case and therefore he qualifies as a potential other defendants that is covered in this agreement from any further legal action and so essentially what he's trying to do is get this case thrown out on a technicality. he has always denied the allegations that he sexually abused virginia and her team really argue passionately to make sure that this case goes to court and that these allegations are heard properly through the evidence, through prince andrea having to be interviewed and deposed in this case. and what her lawyers told the judge was that neitherjeffrey epstein nor virginia ever intended for prince andrew to be covered by this agreement and it was a confidential agreement that prince andrew did not even know about until this year. and so it was interesting to hear the judge questioning both sides about their legal arguments and he had a few opinions of his own. tell legal arguments and he had a few opinions of his own.— legal arguments and he had a few opinions of his own. tell me more about this — opinions of his own. tell me more about this 2009 _ opinions of his own. tell me more about this 2009 agreement. - opinions of his own. tell me more about this 2009 agreement. how| opinions of his own. tell me more - about this 2009 agreement. how much do we know about what's in it and the circumstances around which it came? , ., , the circumstances around which it came? , . , . . the circumstances around which it came? , . ., ., came? this was an agreement that aid for came? this was an agreement that paid for half— came? this was an agreement that paid for half $1 _ came? this was an agreement that paid for half $1 million _ came? this was an agreement that paid for half $1 million to _ came? this was an agreement that paid for half $1 million to a - paid for half $1 million to a release epstein from any further legal claims in fact it was so broad it talked about releasing him from crimes that were from the beginning of the world and it was secret up until just a of the world and it was secret up untiljust a few days ago there was this big court battle to get the settlements released. thejudges agreed it could be made public and so we really only had just gotten to see the details of this agreement ourselves and it does mention that virginia giaffre alleges she was tracking —— traffic byjeffrey epstein and his friends including royalty, businessmen, politicians, and that's again aware prince andrew's legal team are seizing on this agreement saying it also covers him. what's interesting today was that the judge looked at another parts that comes right at the end of the agreement and the language on that says the terms of the settlement are not intended to be used by any other person nor be admissible in any proceeding or case against or involving jeffrey epstein whether civil or criminal. what the judge is saying is that they settlement was not supposed to be known to the public. it was up to be confidential betweenjeffrey epstein and virginia giaffre and therefore prince andrew cannot use the settlements in his case. that is essentially what he was saying in this hearing but again we are waiting for his final decision. let's turn to coronavirus in the united states. it's registered more than a million new coronavirus cases in one day, setting a global record for daily infections in one country. here's presidentjoe biden. we have reduced the number of american adults without any shots from 90 million to about 35 million in the past six months. but there is still 35 million people. that are not vaccinated. and that may be clear we had in hand all the vaccines we need to get any american fully vaccinated including the booster shot. there is no excuse for anyone being unvaccinated. this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated. and this is the president's chief medical advisor, anthony fauci — speaking at the weekend. we are definitely in the middle of a very severe search and uptick in cases. if you look at the uptick it's actually almost a vertical increase. this is a graph of daily us cases since november. you can see it rising steeply past1 million. this surge is being blamed on the 0micron variant. 0ne impact is on schools some have delayed their reopening after the christmas break. here's the head of the american federation of teachers. this surge of the virus is so great that it will force and it is forcing some schools and school districts to go remote even though everyone wants to be in person right now. there is not a teacher or parent or a school administrator or union head who would not tell you that of course being in person is the best and that's what we are trying to do but the site right now is with omicron. if people test positive they have to stay home and we have in philadelphia at thousand of the 15,000 educators who were sick yesterday and so 77 schools are on remotes today. gary 0'donoghue is in washington with more on president biden�*s strategy. it is really urging the unvaccinated and bear in mind there are still 35 million people in this country who have not had a single vaccine urging them to get vaccine and urging them to get a booster who have not had one so far. saying there are plenty of those available for all americans and their continuing to urge testing and their continuing to urge testing and their continuing to urge testing and the difficulty with the testing is it's been a bit of a mess and the president again today suggesting that these half—billion tests that the federal government sends out the peoples homes that website will be available sometime this month but not really specifying when that will be and also the guidance on isolation if you do test positive some confusion over that's whether it's a five day isolation with a test or not a test and y not you should be able to move freely after five days. there's still some problems with the messaging. 0ne problems with the messaging. one thing on the numbers is that many is a somewhat worth bearing in mind and taking into account weekends where you often do see accounting for more than one day but a lot of the experts here are trying to focus much more on hospitalisations and the one positive is the hospitalisation rate is about two thirds of the rate of the peak we saw last year. so, around 40, a0 saw last year. so, around 40, 40 5000 pretty as opposed to 65, 70 5000 pretty as opposed to 65, 70 5000 so it's not affecting people as badly as when they were unvaccinated oras badly as when they were unvaccinated or as when delta was infecting people. the uk has reported another record daily number of covid infections. 218,000. though there's been some backlog in reporting because of christmas which needs to be factored in. earlier, borisjohnson led a press conference. together with the pain be measured to be introduced before christmas, we have a chance to write out this omicron wave without shutting down of the country once again. we can keep i was gold and our businesses open and we can find a way to live with this virus. we had identified 100,000 critical workers in areas from food processing to transport to our border force and from the 10th of january we will be rolling out lateral flow testing for all of these records available on every working day. ben wright in westminster dtl depending if that was not the only person to take part in that press conference. he wasjoined by his advisers. its conference. he was “oined by his advisers. ,, ., , advisers. its one with him? they are, but advisers. its one with him? they are. but they _ advisers. its one with him? they are, but they are _ advisers. its one with him? they are, but they are not _ advisers. its one with him? they are, but they are not suggesting | are, but they are not suggesting that they are deviating at all from the prime minister's message today which as far as he is concerned it is a moment of caution. utmost caution he said. the numbers clearly are troubling in terms of infection, 200,000 new cases today. 15,000 people in hospital in england with covid—19 but the prime minister and the scientific advisers believe that is not caused increased the restrictions in england at the state and certainly not go down the root of a lockdown. because they are clear that the severity of omicron is much less than the delta and it's not translating into intensive care units getting filled up and did not translating into higher numbers of deaths. so we are monitoring the data but at the moment all three of the people in downing street today led by the premises at that point out, plan b, those measures passed in opposition before christmas are enough, for now that everybody must remain cautious and of course get a vaccine. i thought you had from the prime minister some of the exasperation we heard from president biden a few minutes ago. he said it's crazy that 9 million eligible britons that have not had their boosterjob and he employed people to go and get it. he boosterjob and he employed people to go and get it— to go and get it. he emphasised the fact that the — to go and get it. he emphasised the fact that the correlation _ to go and get it. he emphasised the fact that the correlation between - fact that the correlation between case numbers and hospitalisations is very much been changed by the fact __ by very much been changed by the fact —— by the vaccine. isn't there another factor which is staffing levels and crucial service is particularly the national health service which are being impacted because people have to isolate even if they are not particularly poorly? that is right. the government has always talked about the need to protect the nhs and being overwhelmed. and that has been used to justify past restrictions and that remains the key focus of government policymaking at the moment. that is the yardstick to measure the fight against omicron against. in one sense, that is about trying to prevent people from going into hospital that the disease in numbers that would overwhelm hospitals and on the other hand clearly, it is about the question of staffing and it's also created several trusts in england are seizing up because so many members of staff for having to self—isolate after testing positive whether they have cut symptoms or not. and that is something which the health professional unions raise concern and a demand testing capacity for nhs staff and it's clearly a problem in the private sector as well which is why we had that announcement from the penn minister today that 100,000 critical workers will be now giving the ability to test every day to try and suppress the infection rate among key parts of the workforce and keep the country taking over during what clearly still is a rising wave of the omicron variant. stay with us on 0utside source — still to come... we have the latest on the tennis star novak djokovic who says he will now take part in the australian open after being granted a medical exemption from requiring a covid vaccine. authorities in the indian capital delhi have imposed a weekend curfew as covid cases surge.. yogita limaye has more. what the government has announced if they are basically telling people in they are basically telling people in the city, do not go out over the weekend unless it is for essential needs that buying food or medicine and unless there is an emergency happening. at the moment there is not clarity about what this means for establishments that currently are open like restaurants for example by shops which are setting nonessential items. but what the minister said in his press conference was that it would be in curfew and people are being told to it is for essential needs. they have also announced that people working in government should be working from home unless they are engaged in essential services and that's why they have to be at the office. as far as private offices are concerned they said they have to operate at 50% capacity. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is? a usjudge is considering whether to throw out a sexual assault case against britain's prince andrew, brought by a victim ofjeffrey epstein. police in washington dc have been speaking about the security measures they have in place ahead of the anniversary this week of last january's riot at the capitol. these images are hard to forget — this was onjanuary 6th last year, when that a huge crowd of supporters of former president donald trump stormed the building that houses the us congress, seeking to overturn the election result. here's the us capitol police chief, t0m manger. the united states capitol police as an organisation is stronger and better prepared to carry out its mission today and it was before january six of last year. the department began significant work immediately after the sixth to fix the failures that occurred. intelligence failures, operational planning failures, leadership failures. 0ne planning failures, leadership failures. one thing that did not feel that they was the courage and resolve of the men and women of the united states capitol police. in the past year our focus has been implementing improvements that would provide of officers with the resources that they need to fulfil their responsibility safely and effectively. on thursday here on bbc news we will mark that anniversary with a special programme presented by my colleague christian fraser. but ahead of that — there's a radio series you might want to check out — on bbc sounds. "the coming storm" looks at the conspiracy theories which motivated some of the people who stormed the capitol — including qanon — and some other false conspiracy theories that came before it. a year on from the capitol insurrection in washington dc on 6january 2021, gabriel gatehouse journeys into the dark undergrowth of modern america. he's looking for the origins of the story that drove the crowds to storm the heart of us democracy. when i was glued to the tv watching the scenes you played last year inside the capitol building, in fact senate chamber, i saw someone that i recognise. he was a man wearing horns on his head, he was draped in furs, he was bare chested covered in tattoos and he really became the face of that day and the reason i picked them out is because i met that guy, i met him two months previously in arizona outside the maricopa county when trump supporters were disputing the results and i talked to him but this story he told me that time so crazy that i decided not to get an interview with him on camera. the story he told was essentially the on conspiracy theory about this cabal of satanic paedophiles who they believed had raved and still the election. two months later it turned out that sterry had made its way right into the heart of american democracy self i really set out to try and find the origin of that story and how it made its way into the american psyche. hagar story and how it made its way into the american psyche.— story and how it made its way into the american psyche. how far back did ou the american psyche. how far back did you have _ the american psyche. how far back did you have to _ the american psyche. how far back did you have to go? _ the american psyche. how far back did you have to go? you _ the american psyche. how far back did you have to go? you can - the american psyche. how far back did you have to go? you can go - the american psyche. how far back did you have to go? you can go far| did you have to go? you can go far back as you _ did you have to go? you can go far back as you like. _ did you have to go? you can go far back as you like. you _ did you have to go? you can go far back as you like. you have to - did you have to go? you can go far back as you like. you have to take | did you have to go? you can go far| back as you like. you have to take a frame because of the centrality of hillary clinton to this theory they believe hillary clinton is at the centre of this cabal we decided to beginning the 19905 and being that that some of the conspiracy theories that some of the conspiracy theories that have a reason been in the early days of the internet. we are talking 93, 94, 95. what we discovered wa5 days of the internet. we are talking 93, 94, 95. what we discovered was a ecosystem of early chad william5, right—wing talk radio that was deliberately spreading con5piracy deliberately spreading conspiracy theories in that sphere that sat there and bubbled under the surface for about two decades and then erupted again as hillary clinton ran for the presidency and this really was the spark that led to cueing on that eventually led to those people starting the capital. the other thing we discovered wa5 starting the capital. the other thing we discovered was that there were people who are working on the trump campaign in 2020 who were deliberately trying to harness the power of cueing on. they force in order to dare to try to get him reelected and when the election was over they switched that movement from a movement about a cabal of satanic paedophiles into one about a stolen election. gabriel's series "the coming storm" is available now on bbc sound5 — you can listen to all eight epi5ode5 there — you can also listen on bbc radio 4 in the uk and on bbc world service, elsewhere. the tennis men5 world number one — novak djokovic — has received a medical exemption to enter australia, bypassing the strict rules that only allow vaccinated people to enter the country. the news means that djokovic — who has been critical of mandatory vacinations — can now compete in the australian open. on tuesday he tweeted this picture on the airport tarmac, bags packed. with the caption "happy new year... today i'm heading down under with an exemption permission. let's go 2022!" the list of conditions that qualify for a medical exemption isn't a long one. in australia you can quality if you suffer from an inflammed cardiac illness or an acute medical condition. if you had any potentially fatal reactions to an earlier vaccine do5e. djokovic has never declared his vaccine status publically. 0r you can po5tpone your vaccination if you have tested positive for covid—19 in the last six months. we know that djokovic tested positive injune 2020. that was 18 months ago. tennis au5tralia 5aid djokovic's application went through two rigorou5 review panels. here's our tennis reporter russel fuller on the process. the5e medical exemptions are not given away lightly. they are treated anonymously on the case is as of the planner would not have known it was novak djokovic the world number one and nine time australian champion. it has to be approved by the australian technical advisory group and then a second panel made up of medical experts has to also gave the green right5 medical experts has to also gave the green rights to a player receiving a vaccination. that's what people need to have in the back of their minds but at the same time people will reach their own conclusions if x doe5 reach their own conclusions if x does not shed any further light on the subject and they may make their frustration felt. here's what djokovic has said before about compulsory covid jab5 in this facebook live in 2020 with other serbian athletes he said he is "personally opposed to vaccination and wouldn't want to be forced to take a vaccine in order to to travel". then in an interview with the new york times, he clarified his comments. stating that his "issue is with someone forcing me to put something in my body that i don't want. for me that's unacceptable." and in november— his father called australia's mandatoryjab rules "blackmail" and said his son might not play the australian open as a result. well now that he is set to compete in melbourne, we are already seeing reaction from other players. here's seven time doubles grand slam championjamie murray. i think if it was me that was not vaccinated i would not be getting an exemption but well done to him for getting cleared to come to australia and compete. for the most part international travellers coming to australia must be fully vaccinated and it's been a concern through the pandemic that some sports, people, and celebrities have been given preferential treatment as far as tennis australia and the victorian government is concerned they believe that this process involving the world number one is rigorous and independent but of course in the next couple of days all of those different opinions will be surfacing on social media and beyond. thank you for watching. we will be back tomorrow. more information on the bbc news website. goodbye. hello. i'm guessing today came as a bit of a shock to the system after that exceptionally warm start that you experienced on new year's day, temperatures widely across the uk in the mid teens, up to 16 degrees in a few spots. this afternoon, barely a few degrees above freezing. much closer to how it should feel injanuary. the cold conditions continue tonight, more snow showers across the north of scotland, aided by strong gale force winds those winds easing a little bit. blustery nights across the board. more sleep, snow showers. northern ireland, wales, may be parts of the northwest midlands too. but away from that clear skies around. there could be some alliance with the ground is wet. there could be some ice where the ground is wet to keep showers going through the night, but a more widespread frost returns to take us into wednesday morning. that said, for many a crisp and sunny start. a few showers in the north of scotland. not many across other western areas. there is a chance of rain showers getting close to eastern coast of england through the day. this is where the strongest winds will remain, adding a bit to the wind—chill factor. temperatures not far off the average for early january, around four to 7 degrees in most parts of the uk. with clear skies and sunshine to end the day, and lighter winds, it'll be an even colder night to take us into thursday morning. again, where a few showers linger late in the day, there could be a bit of ice around, but it is the sharp frost into thursday morning, —9 in some parts of as low as minus four and minus six degrees in some parts of england. eastern scotland. temperatures lift later in the night in ireland. slightly milder air coming in with these weather fronts but they will be pushing into that cold air so we are likely to see snow for a time. getting to lower levels in parts of scotland. 0n the hills in wales and increasingly so into northern england and the north midlands. turning back to rain as the temperatures rise temporarily, then drop later on, sunshine and showers in its wake. weather front not quite reaching east anglia until late in the day but even then it stays on the cold side after that frosty start, temperatures around four or five degrees. patchy frost to take us through into friday as that weather system clears. and then on friday, a day sunshine and showers. showers mainly across the western areas, but with the westerly win it mayjust drive them a little bit further east. southern parts should stay bright and dry and temperatures around three to eight degrees. that's how things are looking. goodbye for now. this is bbc news, the headlines. trying to convince american judges to dismiss the sexual assault lawsuit against him. his lawyer said the duke who denies the accusations could be covered by a deal his accuser made with jeffrey epstein in 2009. britain and the us of both registered new cases is the omicron variant spreads across the world. according more than 200,000 new cases in a day for the first time. the second chinese city has gone into full locked on his officials rushed to contain small covid—19 outbreaks a month before the opening ceremony of the winter games. in route number one says he will head to the australian open to defend his title after receiving a medical exemption. those are the headlines on bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's talking movies.