and the largest fossilized skeleton of its kind everfound in the uk — a sea dragon, ten metres long and 250 million years old. and coming up in sport on the bbc news channel. after a weekend of fa cup shocks, can aston villa pull off an upset at manchester united, in the last of the third round ties? good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. tennis�* world number one novak djokovic has been back on the tennis court today after a dramatic courtjudgment in australia meant he was free to leave the hotel where he had been detained since last week. he says he still wants to compete at the australian open — despite the political row over whether he should have been allowed into australia. djokovic has confirmed he is unvaccinated against covid, but had a medical exemption to enter the country. at seven this morning, a judge in melbourne ruled that djokovic had not been given enough time to respond to the cancellation of his visa — and gave border officials 30 minutes to release him. the australian government then had four hours in which it could have overridden that decision and revoked the player's visa again. but it chose not to. is this now the end of the saga? not necessarily. shaimaa khalil reports from melbourne. within hours of today's judgment, novak djokovic posted this picture on twitter, saying he was pleased and grateful that thejudge had overturned the visa cancellation. and despite all that has happened, he wants to say and try to compete at the australian open. cheering. and this is the moment his supporters found out about his victory. he won, djokovic won! what we saw today here in the court that the australian legal system is functioning, it is evidence—based, it is about justice. yeah, i'm extremely happy. as is anyone, everyone - in the serbian community here. djokovic's family welcomed the news, but remained cautious about what would happen with his visa. i'm very worried, but i don't want to think like that. ijust hope it will stay like this, that he will be free and he will play. it's been a battle for all of us, it's notjust about novak, obviously, we have been defending him in every possible way we could, because we know he is a truthful and rightful guy. novak djokovic announced on january 4th that he was going to australia after being granted a medical exemption — a move that angered many australians who have endured strict covid—19 rules. on january 5th, he arrived in melbourne, but was held by border force officers. his visa was revoked and he was taken to an immigration detention hotel, where he remained until today. his lawyers argued that his visa cancellation was unreasonable, and a judge agreed, allowing him to stay in the country. while many in the tennis community believe djokovic was unfairly treated, some argue that meeting any country's vaccination rules will pose problems for him beyond australia. he would have to face several times those problems, so i think bottom line, he will have to get the vaccine. but for this time, for australia, he got the visa, and he flew in with all the best intentions and having done all the work he should have done beforehand. thejubilant mood turned into chaos and confusion when it became unclear whether djokovic would be allowed to stay, despite the court's decision in his favour. at one point, djokovic's fans thought they caught a glimpse of him, but they clashed with the police and were dispersed with tear gas. today's events have moved and changed at a dizzying speed. it is still unclear whether the government will seek to deport novak djokovic, but after his release, the tennis star said he's focused on competing here in the australian open. it's only a few days before the tournament djokovic has dominated is due to start, but his win in court today doesn't seem to have guaranteed him a chance to defend his title. shaimaa khalil, bbc news. our sports editor, dan roan, joins us from salford. so where does this go from here? well there is no doubt that despite that legal victory, novak djokovic remains very much in limbo as you have heard. still unclear whether or not he will have the opportunity to become the most successful men's player of all time. still, of course, one of three men on 20 grand slam titles to their name. so we will have to see how the government decide to go in the coming hour, he will be waking up shortly in melbourne, sport has found itself accustomed to be being at the centre of vaccine policy but never like this. perhaps because it involves such a polarising and controversial figure but this episode is taking place in australia, a country that has had some the toughest lockdown vaccine policies in the world. it does seem unlikely that even if djokovic remains unvaccinated he would have to go through anything like this at the french open or wimbledon, the next two grand slams but it has highlighted a tension between sports authorities who are trying to get tough with vaccine sceptic athletes but on the other hand who want them at major event r. regardless whether you see djokovic as a hero or irresponsible. it is hardly to —— hard to see winners merging from this. it is damaging to tennis, tennis australia, if 2 government decide to dispel djokovic after that defeat for the australian government and to djokovic himself who has yet to clarify and clear up along with his family how he came to be photographed in public appearances in the days after he tested positive. thank you. the housing secretary, michael gove, says he wants developers to pay up to £4 billion to fix dangerous cladding on medium height blocks of flats identified in the wake of the grenfell fire. mr gove says if they fail to co—operate, they could be taxed. until now, the government had committed money to repair only taller buildings. the new proposals do not address other fire safety defects though, such as missing firebreaks and flammable balconies. our business correspondent, sarah corker has more. removing dangerous cladding — the grenfell tragedy exposed the scale of building safety failures across britain. the government says it will pressure the construction sector to pay and protect innocent leaseholders. the housing secretary had strong words for property developers today — pay up or we will force you to. to those who mis—sold dangerous products, like cladding or insulation, to those who cut corners to save cash as they developed or refurbished people's homes, and to those who sought to profiteer from the consequences of the grenfell tragedy — we are coming for you. but labour says these measures focus on cladding and don't address the wider safety faults exposed since grenfell. mr speaker, you cannot make a building half safe. given that he recognises the injustice of all leaseholders caught up in the building safety crisis, why is he abandoning those who are hit with bills for non cladding defects? people living in blocks under 18 metres will no longer have to pay to remove dangerous cladding. until now, only blocks above that height were eligible for funding. developers will be expected to pay for the £4 billion scheme or face legal or tax changes. there's also more money for fire alarms, a review of the scale of work actually needed and leaseholders will have up to 30 years to sue builders for defects — at the moment, it's six years. these measures bring some relief for father of four, neil, forfather of four, neil. he now won't have to foot the bill for cladding on this low—rise block in south london, but he fears he will still have to pay for other faults. it seems like a step in the right direction, but at the same time, the cladding section on our bill is only a third of the bill, so there's still two thirds of other things that may need paying for, but that's still, you know, tens of thousands of pounds, it's still going to bankrupt people in our block. there will be no new money from the treasury, and developers often argue they met building regulations at the time, so they shouldn't have to pay to cover these costs. the largest home—builders have already allocated some funds for high—rise blocks. whatever proposals come forward have to be fair, have to be proportionate, and that means looking notjust at the home—builders, but beyond the home—builders, other parties who have been involved in the process, in particular the supplies of the materials, which turned out not to be fit for purpose as far as we can understand. the government has given construction firms a deadline of march to come up with a plan of action. but for thousands of people, the financial situation is already critical. sarah corker, bbc news. ikea has announced it will cut sick pay for unvaccinated staff who need to self—isolate because of covid. fully vaccinated staff will receive full sick pay. the company'sjoining a growing list of firms doing the same. the retail giant acknowledges it's an "emotive topic" but says its policy has to evolve with changing circumstances. emma simpson is in north london for us, what's behind this and could this be a sign of things to come? the backdrop to this fiona is that many companies are grappling with rising costs, and staff absences and this is all part of this. now ikea employed 10,000 people across the uk and right now, if any of them get covid, jabbed or unjabbed, they will get full sick pay. the difference is, if they are unvaccinated and are forced to self—isolate, coming into close contact with someone who has tested positive they are likely to end up with the minimum statutory sick pay of £96 a week unless there are mitigating circumstances, that is a financial penalty. wessex water is a financial penalty. wessex water is doing something similar starting this week where absence rates have double and that follows on from morrisons which cut its sick pay terms last year. it is worth pointing out some big firms in america have gone further, unvaccinated workers there having to pay monthly fees or some losing theirjobs all together, so what we are starting to see here, are some changes, ikea saying it is emotive and it could become a wider friend —— trend. thank you. the latest official coronavirus figures show over 142,000 new infections in the latest 24—hour period. on average there were over 171,600 new cases per day in the last week. the latest figures show over 18,600 people in hospital with covid. there've been another 77 death of people who died within 28 days of a positive test result. on average, in the past week, there were 190 deaths per day. on vaccinations, over 35.6 million people have had a boosterjab, which means more than 62% of those aged 12 and over have now had three vaccine doses. our health editor hugh pym is here. we're getting reports of an unusually upbeat assessment from the government's chief medical adviser, sir chris whitty. yes, indeed fiona, you may remember in the middle of last month he had a briefing, said when the omicron threat was become clear, there are several things we don't know, but all the thing we do know are bad. now as of today, according to government sources he briefed the cabinet, and the tone was more positive than in recent weeks, and it has been guided that next week, the scientists believe they should be able to say whether for england plan b measures need to continue or not after the end of january. what is happening the underlying level of daily reported cases is falling, thatis daily reported cases is falling, that is the seven day rolling average, it is falling in scotland, although risings in northern ireland and wales. as for hospital admissions they are levelling off in england, and that, i think is a source of some consolation in government, but it won't be much consolation to the nhs, who were still dealing with this intense pressure because of covid, people coming in to hospital with infections they picked up a couple of weeks ago and that seems likely to continue with the other winter pressures for at least a couple more weeks, so i don't think anybody in government right now is wanting to call this as a definite turning point in this pandemic, in terms of the impact of omicron. our top story this evening. novak djokovic says he still wants to compete in the australian open after a judge frees him from detention. still to come — from victoria sponge to coronation chicken to — what? the competition to come up with a platinum pudding to celebrate the queen's jubilee. and coming up on sportsday on the bbc news channel. after his win in court, novak djokovic is back on court, but could he still be prevented from defending his trophy at the australian open? the past seven years have been the hottest on record. that's according to the eu's copernicus climate change service which said they were the warmest by a clear margin since 1850. last year was the fifth—warmest year, with record—breaking heat in some regions. and levels of carbon dioxide and methane hit new heights. our climate editor justin rowlatt reports. what a way to see in the new year. almost 1,000 homes were destroyed and tens of thousands of people were forced to evacuate, as some of the worst wildfires ever seen in colorado swept across the state. coming down this road, the ditches and things, and the trees, they are all up inflames, like, there are embers everywhere. it looks like 2022 is set to continue the trend of extreme weather we saw last year. extreme events are likely to become more intense and more frequent, and we saw many examples of that. within 2021, there were the devastating floods in central europe that we saw in july and also the extreme heat waves that we saw across the world injune in canada and injuly in sicily. these latest temperature figures confirm that europe experienced its hottest summer on record. the global data collected by european satellites shows 2021 was the fifth hottest year ever recorded, and no surprise here, the concentration of warming gases in the atmosphere is continuing to rise with record levels of both carbon dioxide and methane. the direction of travel is inescapable, just look how temperatures have risen since the beginning of the industrial revolution 170 years ago. that, of course, is when the world began to burn fossil fuels on a really massive scale, and now look at the last seven years. these latest figures show they were the hottest seven years ever recorded, an average of 1.2 degrees centigrade above pre—industrial levels. and the bad news is a temporary cooling event in the pacific ocean actually lowered temperatures vary marginally last year. that will soon pass, so don't expect any let up in the warming trend in the years to come. it sometimes feels when we've got complex big problems like this that there is very little we can do as individuals, but we do have a choice. we can make changes to our lifestyle to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions, whether that's reducing the amount of meat and dairy that we eat, travelling less by flying or, you know, not taking the car as much and walking and cycling instead. the planet we call home is in danger, she says, and we can't say we haven't been warned. justin rowlatt, bbc news. at least 19 people, including nine children, have died after a fire in a new york apartment building. another 32 people were sent to hospital, several of whom are in a critical condition, the fire tore throughaccording to new york mayor eric adams. he described it as a horrific, painful moment for the city. an independent inquiry willl investigate how a serving police officer was able to abduct, rape and murder sarah everard last march. the first phase will look wayne couzens' conduct during his career. it will also investigate whether any red flags were missed concerning him and the extent to which his behaviour, particularly in relation to women, was known about and raised by colleagues. eight men who were abused by the convicted paedophile barry bennell more than 30 years ago have lost their high court case against manchester city football club. the men, now in their 40s and 50s, said bennell was a scout for manchester city at the time. a judge ruled the club was not liable but praised the men's bravery in coming forward. the president of kazakhstan has described the protests last week — in which dozens are reported to have died — as an attempted coup d'etat. troops from russia are currently in the country at his request to restore order — and today president putin said kazakhstan had been targeted by international terrorism, adding that russia would never allow revolutions to take place in the region. our correspondent steve rosenberg is in kazakhstan�*s largest city almaty and sent this report. driving into almaty, you see immediately this is a city on guard. we passed through several army checkpoints. they've been setup to more attacks. in the city centre, reminders of the violence the authorities now say was an attempted coup. almaty last week. what had started as peaceful protests over fuel prices, in another part of kazakhstan, where suddenly looking like war. , , like war. these bandits were controlled — like war. these bandits were controlled by _ like war. these bandits were controlled by terrorists. - like war. these bandits were controlled by terrorists. for| like war. these bandits were i controlled by terrorists. for the level of organisation here, it must have been a criminal group that planned it in advance.— have been a criminal group that planned it in advance. dozens were killed. thousands _ planned it in advance. dozens were killed. thousands have _ planned it in advance. dozens were killed. thousands have since - planned it in advance. dozens were killed. thousands have since been | killed. thousands have since been detained. there's still a lot of confusion about who was behind the violence. authorities blame terrorists and bandits. some talk about a power struggle in the ruling elite. but one thing is clear, but to stay in power, the president of kazakhstan had to call on foreign power to help and that's russia. enter the russian military. on paper, russian troops are peacekeepers, deployed to kazakhstan as part of a collective security alliance of former soviet states. but most of the soldiers are russian. the kremlin is keen to demonstrate its regional power. addressing colleagues, president putin made events that his wider narrative. we putin made events that his wider narrative. ~ , ., putin made events that his wider narrative. ~ , . , narrative. we understand the events in kazakhstan _ narrative. we understand the events in kazakhstan won't _ narrative. we understand the events in kazakhstan won't be _ narrative. we understand the events in kazakhstan won't be the - narrative. we understand the events in kazakhstan won't be the last - in kazakhstan won't be the last attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of our countries. the measures taken by the force show we will not allow destabilisation at home and for so—called colour resolution is to take place. patter resolution is to take place. after the violence _ resolution is to take place. after the violence in _ resolution is to take place. after the violence in almaty, - resolution is to take place. after the violence in almaty, there . resolution is to take place. after the violence in almaty, there are mixed feelings about the arrival of russian troops. i mixed feelings about the arrival of russian troops.— russian troops. i welcome the russians are _ russian troops. i welcome the russians are coming. - russian troops. i welcome the russians are coming. they - russian troops. i welcome the | russians are coming. they will russian troops. i welcome the - russians are coming. they will put a stop to _ russians are coming. they will put a stop to it _ russians are coming. they will put a stop to it. we russians are coming. they will put a sto to it. . , ., russians are coming. they will put a sto to it. ~ , ., , russians are coming. they will put a stotoit.~ ,., , ., stop to it. we should be able to co -e stop to it. we should be able to cope ourselves. _ stop to it. we should be able to cope ourselves. then _ stop to it. we should be able to cope ourselves. then again, - stop to it. we should be able to - cope ourselves. then again, without outside _ cope ourselves. then again, without outside help. — cope ourselves. then again, without outside help, they— cope ourselves. then again, without outside help, they could _ cope ourselves. then again, without outside help, they could be - cope ourselves. then again, without outside help, they could be civil- outside help, they could be civil wan _ outside help, they could be civil war. ~ ., ., , , outside help, they could be civil war. . . ., ,, ., , ., war. what happened in kazakhstan has left this country _ war. what happened in kazakhstan has left this country and _ war. what happened in kazakhstan has left this country and its _ war. what happened in kazakhstan has left this country and its people - war. what happened in kazakhstan has left this country and its people in - left this country and its people in shock and in fear at what comes next. a pilot in los angeles has had a lucky escape, not once but twice. first, he had to make an emergency landing on a railway line, thankfully avoiding buildings and people. but then moments later a high speed train was racing towards him. police officers rushed towards the plane to pull the pilot out — bleeding but relatively uninjured, just seconds before the train hit the plane at full speed. the officers have been widely praised for their quick thinking and heroism, no one was injured on the train and the pilot is making a full recovery. one of the uk's greatest ever fossil finds has been revealed — the skeleton of a ten metre long sea predator — rather like a huge prehistoric dolphin — that lived 250 million years ago. it was discovered poking through the mud at rutland water nature reserve in leceistershire. jonah fisher has more. last february, on a bank of mud in a midlands reservoir, joe davis made an extraordinary discovery. we were re—landscaping some islands on the rutland water nature reserve there to improve it for bird habitats. and i looked down, ijust saw this series of ridges in the mud and thought, that looks different, there's something there that's different. and it had organic features almost where it connects onto the rib. so, yeah, that's when we thought we need to call somebody and find out. a team of experts was quickly dispatched. joe hadn't found a dinosaur, but it was an ichthyosaur — a monstrous, air—breathing sea reptile, also known as a sea dragon, that swam about 180 million years ago. back then, rutland and most of the midlands was under water, covered by a warm, shallow sea. what makes this particular sea dragon so special is its size and condition. this is a backbone, so it's part of the spine, and this is one of more than 150 individual vertebrae in this entire skeleton. so, this individual is not only the most complete ichthyosaur skeleton ever found, the biggest one ever found here in the uk, incredible at ten metres long. but it's actually the biggest prehistoric reptile skeleton ever found here as well, the most complete skeleton. very gently back. 0k. the huge ichthyosaur has now been removed from the reservoir bed. the skull block on its own weighed almost a tonne. having lain in the mud undisturbed for nearly 200 million years, the rutland sea dragon is one of britain's greatest ever fossil finds. jonah fisher, bbc news. now — fancy yourself as a baker? could you be the one to come up with the recipe for the new platinum pudding to celebrate the queen's jubilee this year? it's not the only thing marking the queen's 70 years on the throne — there'll be pageantry, street parties and a four—day bank holiday weekend in june. our royal correspondent daniela relph can tell us more. every big celebration needs a decent pudding. this was the queen's 90th birthday five years ago. then, bake off winner nadiya hussain did the honours. but to mark the queen's 70 years on the throne you don't have to be a star baker. all of us can give it a go. the aim is to find a recipe with staying power. i'm looking for something that's visually beautiful. that's been made with love and has a bit of a story to it, and something that will look great in buckingham palace, as well as on a table in a street party. and there's a history of royally named food. coronation chicken was created for the queen's coronation. and the victoria sponge was named after queen victoria, who loved an afternoon tea. this year's platinum pudding competition is about getting everyone involved. anyone over eight years old can submit a recipe. younger bakers are so much better than they used to be. like the amount of kids, especially on bake off, who were so much better than me at my age, is mind—blowing. the big jubilee celebration comes injune, with the four day bank holiday weekend. on thursday 2nd, there'll be trooping the colour on horse guards parade for the first time since 2019, due to covid. on friday 3rd, a service of thanksgiving for the queen's reign will be held at st paul's cathedral. the biggest names in entertainment are promised on saturday 4thjune, when the bbc hosts a platinum party at buckingham palace. the ballot for tickets will be launched next month. and then on sunday 5thjune, a pageant on the mall and the big jubilee lunch will be dished out in communities across the country. on the menu will be the winning platinum pudding that it is hoped the royal family will approve of. i spent 11 years cooking for the queen at buckingham palace, and one thing i did realise is that she does have a sweet tooth. afternoon tea, there will be lots of cakes, lots of pastries, but also at dinner lots of puddings too, and i think that one of her weaknesses is probably chocolate. jubilees are about creating memories. it's hoped the uk's first ever platinum jubilee will feel that extra bit special. today the current head chef at buckingham palace has issued some tips for anyone breaking their own platinum pudding. he says keep it simple, naked elegant and let the flavours sing. anyone wanting to submit a recipe has about a month to go. anything with sponge and cream gets my vote! time for a look at the weather. here's sarah keith—lucas. it's been an uninspiring day today. a lot of cloud and drizzly outbreaks of rain. something a bit clearer has started to work in from the north. this was the picture as the sun set in east lothian earlier. it's going to be a split picture through tonight. underthose to be a split picture through tonight. under those clearer skies for scotland and northern ireland, ten quite cold with a touch of frost around. but a different picture further south across the uk for england and wales. a lot of cloud overnight producing drizzly outbreaks of rain and it won't be feeling as chilly. all of the cloud moving south, you can see the outbreaks pushing across much of england and wales overnight. clearer skies working in for scotland and northern ireland. one or two showers in the far north—west. there will be a contrasting temperature. underneath the cloud, some others holding onto double figures but in towns and cities, temperatures further north getting down to 2 degrees. cold in the countryside. a touch of frost across the far north. through the day, those clear skies slowly pushed south with cloud of outbreaks of drizzly rain being confined to the far south of england and wales. milder temperatures in the south than in the north. outbreaks of fairly light rain lasting through the day. that's all down to this cold front which will eventually clear away and then we've got higher pressure moving in as we head through the week. that means from wednesday will see south—westerly winds, high—pressure drawing in the milder air. further south, we are underneath high—pressure but cold it air around us. a different picture north to south across the uk. from mid week in the north, mild and breezy but further south some colder weather on the way and we could see some fairly stubborn fog patches and low cloud lingering. it's working dry for most areas, just a few showers across the far north—west of scotland where it will be cloudy and breezy. temperatures getting up into double figures here. further south, temperatures getting up into double figures here. furthersouth, colder to start off with some frost and fog which could be quite slow to clear on wednesday and we are going to see those stubborn fog patches lingering through the rest of the week. a reminder of our top story. novak djokovic says he still wants to compete in the australian open after a judge frees him from detention. that's all from the bbc news at six. so it's goodbye from me. and on bbc one we nowjoin the bbc�*s news teams where you are.