the tennis star novak djokovic admits making mistakes on his paperwork needed to enter australia. russia and nato hold their first face—to—face talks in two years, as tensions remain high over the buildup of russian troops on the border with ukraine. and why so many chinese students are still heading abroad for their studies, despite the pandemic. hello and thanks forjoining us. borisjohnson is facing calls to resign from within his own party after admitting he attended a drinks party in the garden of downing street during the first coronavirus lockdown. speaking for the first time since details of the event emerged on monday, the uk prime minister apologised to the house of commons but insisted he believed implicitly that the gathering in may 2020 had been related to work. the labour leader, sir keir starmer, said mps were witnessing the pathetic spectacle of a man who had run out of road after months of deceit and deception. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports. a mess — there is no other word. a prime minister belatedly trying to clean up. reporter: are you going to apologise? with an admission of possible rule—breaking, an apology from a weakened leader. but will the answers to today's prime minister's questions see boris johnson through? mr speaker, i want to apologise. i know that millions of people across this country have made extraordinary sacrifices over the last 18 months, and i know the rage they feel with me and with the government i lead when they think that in downing street itself, the rules are not being properly followed by the people who make the rules. there were things we simply did not get right, and i must take responsibility. claiming, to disbelief in the commons, that technically a "bring your own booze" organised drinks event was within the lockdown rules. even if it could be said technically to fall within the guidance, there would be millions and millions of people who simply would not see it that way. well, there we have it. after months of deceit and deception, the pathetic spectacle of a man who's run out of road. his defence — his defence that he didn't realise he was at a party... laughter. ..is so ridiculous that it's actually offensive to the british public. labour able to mock the unusually subdued tory showman. when the whole country was locked down, he was hosting boozy parties in downing street. is he now going to do the decent thing and resign? i regret very much... i regret very much that we did not do things differently that evening. the prime minister pretended that he had been assured there were no parties. now it turns out he was at the parties all along. can't the prime minister see why the british public think he's lying through his teeth? mr speaker, it's up to the right honourable gentleman to choose how he conducts himself in this place. laughter. there was derision — laughter — at the prime minister's defence. six questions later, election—winner borisjohnson looked defeated. this is notjust a westminster drama. it's exactly midday. we are heading over to westminster, where prime minister boris johnson. .. it was the must—watch from the morning sofa — the country seeing repeated calls for boris johnson to quit. will the prime minister, for the good of the country, accept that the party is over and decide to resign? do the decent thing and resign. do the honourable thing and resign. he must resign. and the concern on his own side is potent. the number of mps saying it is overfor mrjohnson growing in the shadows. borisjohnson�*s admission and apology in there has bought him a little time — a pause until the report into what did or didn't happen in number ten is complete. yet, for many on his own side, he has already lost the benefit of the doubt. growing numbers of his own mps want him out, discussing frantically how and when his exit could happen. it is not inevitable, though, that he'll be hastened out of office, but it's no longer impossible to imagine that the prime minister might be gone before too long. look at this. this is a fantastic garden you've got here. look at that. it is indeed a beautiful garden. i'm told this was a former bomb crater. a place prime minister was happy to show off in days gone by. do you see yourself being here for the very long term? well, we're working very hard, laura. but his time in residence could be brought to an early close by what happened literally in his own backyard. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. if you want to know more about the political consequences for the british prime minister, just go to the bbc news website. there you'll find more analysis on what kind of support borisjohnson still has from his conservative party. queen elizabeth's son prince andrew has failed to get a civil case dismissed in the united states which accuses him of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. virginia giuffre is suing the duke of york, claiming that he abused her when she was 17 at the homes ofjeffrey epstein and ghislaine maxwell. the prince has strenuously denied the allegations, but the ruling by the judge in new york means the civil trial can now go ahead. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. everything for andrew had rested on this ruling, and it has gone against him. in his 43—page ruling in the case of virginia giuffre, plaintiff, and prince andrew, duke of york, defendant, the judge's conclusion was very straightforward. "the defendant's motion to dismiss the complaint is denied in all respects," thejudge wrote. the possibility of appealing at this stage appears to be remote, so these are andrew's basic options. he can settle out of court. there would be no admission of liability, but he would pay a perhaps substantial sum to virginia giuffre. he can default — that is ignore the court case — and by default, there would be a finding against him. finally, he could fight it out in court. he would have to give a deposition under oath. the rival stories would be tested, the matter would be decided in open court. lawyers who have been following the case say none of the options will be attractive to him. andrew's got no good options now. he can't make things better, so essentially, i think he's either going to have to engage in the trial process or he's going to have to settle, and that may well be his least—worst option. but it would be up to virginia giuffre to decide whether to accept any out—of—court settlement. at the moment, she doesn't seem inclined to do so. in a statement, her lawyer said... all of which leaves andrew facing the prospect of a bruising court case and the queen, in this, her platinum jubilee year, of enduring months of upset. in his newsnight interview, the one in which he said he couldn't remember meeting the then—i7—year—old virginia giuffre, andrew was asked whether he felt his behaviour had damaged the queen and the royalfamily. i don't believe it's been damaging to the queen at all. it has to me. if i was in a position to be able to answer all these questions in a way that gave sensible answers, other than the ones that i've given that gave closure, then i'd love it. but i'm afraid i can't, because i'm just as much in the dark as many people. if andrew does fight on, he'll have to answer all the other side's questions under oath, and he will be able to declare his innocence and his lawyers will be able to test virginia giuffre's allegations. but at what price to the reputation of the royal family? as lawyers are saying, he has no good options. nicholas witchell, bbc news. our north america correspondent nada tawfik has been following the court case in new york and explains more about what happens next. well, we're waiting to see if prince andrew's legal team will attempt an appeal. now, that would require thejudge's permission and legal experts say that it is a long shot. now, either way, the arduous discovery process will get under way with deadlines this summer, and that's where each side will have to disclose key information and documents. we already know that virginia giuffre's lawyers have demanded to see prince andrew's medical records after he said that her claims have to be false because he cannot sweat, claims made in that newsnight interview. and it's worth noting that if the duke of york does fight this in court, he will have to sit for a lengthy deposition by ms giuffre's lawyer, david boies, a man who is considered one of the greatest trial lawyers in america. he will be asked about private and intimate details under oath. and if this goes to trial, one in the united states of a royal member will certainly spark a media frenzy. so while prince andrew has long denied all of the allegations against him, time is now running out to make key legal decisions. the tennis star novak djokovic has admitted mistakes were made on his immigration forms for entering australia. he also said he had made an error ofjudgement by agreeing to meet a journalist for an interview after he knew he had tested positive for covid—i9. the serbian player is still waiting to hear if his visa will be withdrawn before he can defend his title at the australian open. from melbourne, shaimaa khalil reports. he hard at work in the hot australian sun, but at the same time, novak djokovic was on the tennis court training, he released a statement on his social media accounts. the world number _ social media accounts. the world number one - social media accounts. the world number one had a lot to say about questions over the past few days. still in dispute is when novak djokovic knew he had covid. it is important because an infection is the reason he was granted a vaccine exemption and allowed to travel to australia. today, the tennis star said he found out on 17 december, hours after attending a tennis event with children in belgrade. but this conflicts with a sworn affidavit given to the australian courts that he tested positive for the virus a day earlier. crucially, he also admitted to giving false information, saying... all these details are significant, because australia's immigration minister is still deciding whether novak djokovic will be deported. his lawyers have now given extra information to the authorities, and these revelations are throwing up more questions than answers. in another admission that does nothing for his reputation, djokovic revealed he did an interview with the french sports publication l'equipe after he knew he had the virus and had taken off his mask for and had taken off his mask for a photo shoot. he accepted it was an error ofjudgement. novak djokovic is still determined to defend his title in the australian open, but the information he shared today seems to have added to the uncertainty of whether this will happen. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: why so many chinese students are heading to study in the uk, despite the pandemic. day one of operation desert storm to force the iraqis out of kuwait has seen the most intense air attacks since the second world war. tobacco is america's oldest industry, and it's one of its biggest, but the industry is nervous of this report. this may tend to make people want to stop smoking cigarettes. there is not a street that is unaffected. l huge parts of kobe were simplyl demolished as buildings crashed into one another. this woman said she'd been given no help and no advice| by the authorities. she stood outside the ruins of her business. j tens of thousands of black children in south africa have taken advantage of laws, passed by the country's new multiracial government, and enrolled at formerly white schools. tonight sees the 9,610th performance of her long—running play, the mousetrap. when they heard of her death today, the management considered whether to cancel tonight's performance, but agatha christie would have been the last person to want such a thing. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. our headlines: the uk prime minister, borisjohnson, is facing calls to resign from within his own party after admitting he attended a downing street drinks gathering at the height of covid lockdown and offering an apology. prince andrew will face a civil trial over allegations he sexually assaulted virginia giuffre when she was underage after a us judge ruled her lawsuit against him can proceed. he denies the allegations. nato's secretary generaljens stoltenberg has warned there's still a real risk of new armed conflict in europe — after its first face—to—face talks with russia in two yea rs. this is the moment the two sides arrived for that meeting in brussels — with generals and diplomats rubbing shoulders, as they prepared to sit around the table. they've been trying to defuse tensions over russian troops massed on the ukrainian border. russia's deputy foreign minister has described it as a moment of truth in relations between them. nato members have repeatedly said they won't accept russian demands, which include a halt to any eastward expansion of the alliance. after that meeting, jens stoltenberg sat down with our defense correspondentjonathan beale. secretary general, after these talks with russia, are you more optimistic that there will not be an armed conflict again in ukraine? it's not possible to say anything with certainty about the likelihood on conflict. what i know is that there is a real risk for renewed use of force by russia against ukraine, and that's exactly why the meeting today was important, because we believe in a political path that we call on russia to engage in good faith and to sit down with nato allies and ukraine and find a peaceful way forward. do you agree that diplomacy is about give—and—take? i'm just not clear what you're prepared to give to the russians. we are... you know, they made clear demands about not enlarging nato, about not putting other nations' troops and other nato members on the eastern flank of the alliance. you're not giving any ground at all to russia, are you? well, we are willing to give, meaning that we are willing to make compromises, for instance, on arms control, and we have done that before. as long as we speak about balance, then there are reciprocal and verifiable moves on both sides. for instance, what we made clear today is they're concerned about a long—range weapons system, missiles. well, we are ready to sit down as allies to discuss how can we agree, for instance, limits on missiles. so, if you compromise this, if that is balanced, then of course, we have proven we are willing to compromise. thank you very much, secretary general. thank you. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. the united states has announced its first sanctions on north korea over the country's weapons programme. north korea has recently launched a series of missiles, including two in the past week. sanctions target a number of north koreans and a russian firm said to be responsible for procuring goods for weapons. the nigerian government has lifted its ban on twitter seven months after it clamped down on the social media platform site in the country. the government suspended twitter�*s operations injune last year, accusing it of double standards and supporting secessionists in the country. this was after the microblogging service deleted a controversial tweet by the president. ronnie spector, lead singer of the 1960's girl group the ronettes has died at the age of 78. the group had hits including "be my baby" and "baby, i love you". according to a statement released by her family, spector died surrounded by family, after a brief battle with cancer. prosecutors in france say they have made an arrest hong kong's leader, carrie lam, has said the territory is to introduce its own national security legislation — to complement a similar law imposed by beijing two years ago. she made the comments at the first session of hong kong's legislature since elections last month. political freedoms have been severely curtailed in hong kong since beijing's legislation came into force, and mrs lam's statement raises the prospect that restrictions could be further tightened. lata mangeshkar, a singer known as the nightingale of india, is being treated in a mumbai hospital for covid—i9 and pneumonia. the 92—year—old is believed to have been in poor health for a number of years. her career has spanned over seven decades and has seen her recording thousands of songs in 36 languages. in addition to widespread acclaim in her homeland, she also became the first indian to perform at the royal albert hall in london in 197a. she was given france's highest civilian honour the legion d'honneur in 2007. let's talk about china's zero—covid policy now — it's made travelling out of and into the country very difficult but has not prevented a surge in students from the mainland heading to universities abroad to study. chinese students are picking where they go more carefully now than they were before though — evaluating covid policies, social distancing rules, and online or in person classes. recent data by one body suggests the uk ticks many of these boxes, resulting in 30% growth, while the previous favourite destination, the us, has lagged at 2% to 3%. that data is from chinese online tuition payment service easytra nsfer. i've been speaking to the company's president tony gao. i mean, like, generally that can be about 2 billion us dollars. over 2000 universities in 80 countries. and they see super—strong growth to our platform. about 100% from 2020-2021. although the circumstances, the students are limited by flights, visa or government regulations and can now go abroad, but they still take online courses, and had more difficulties making payments for the universities. some members in the past two years, pre—and post—covid season, interest in study in the us and australia decreased by almost 30%, and us considered used to be the farthest market. for uk students, the number actually increased by more than 20%, and studying in canada and asian countries is relatively stable. overall, the interest is super—strong for students to study abroad. tony, just on the us and australia dropping down that list, how much in your view does that have to do with difficult political relations between china and those countries, as opposed to the logistics of trying to take courses there or getting to those countries? i mean, us and uk, getting to the uk is relatively easier compared to getting to the us. right now, we don't have direct flight, so students will have to take boat to hong kong, and from there, they take the plane to the us. but for the uk, there was a lot of policies adjusting to the chinese students who want to study abroad, and the schools particularly offer planes from china. that is super helpful for international students. when you look at the uk market and take into consideration china's zero—covid policy approach, do you see this trend lasting that chinese students want to go to the uk more than other countries, even after the pandemic starts to abate? yeah, uk totally shows more positive attitudes or understanding towards international students, and they have super great impressions for the chinese families. the uk implied better policies for students, and they allowed students to take the highway options for online and off—line together. but it is different for the us. different states have different policies and state colleges such as illinois requires students to go 100% off—line and that caught a lot of attention and produced a lot of concerns for chinese families. the parents ask the students to choose the uk rather than the us. and before we go, we bring you a nocturnal trip by pope francis to a music store. yes — here is the pontiff going into a record shop in rome to see the old friends who run it. he used to go here as a cardinal when he was on a trip to rome — so he went back to bless the store. the head of the catholic church loves classical music and tango — he left with a gift of a cd. we just don't know which one. hello there. it's been an unsettled start to 2022, hasn't it? but wednesday changed all that for many across england and wales. after a frosty and foggy start, we had pictures like this — a beautiful scene in wrexham, hardly a cloud in the sky. it was chilly with it, but further north, we had more cloud. however, it was scotland and northern ireland that had the milder weather, with temperatures topping out at 12 or 13 degrees across eastern scotland and northeast england. now, this was the situation on wednesday, and it's a fairly similar story to close out the working week. high pressure's still with us, a south—westerly feeding cloud and a little bit of patchy drizzle across the far north and west. but under those clearer skies and with very light winds, we will see frost and fog forming once again. so, temperatures potentially down as low as —3 in a few rural parts, the exception, the far north of scotland. yes, it will be frosty, but also, it will be foggy, particularly for parts of england and wales. some of the fog dense in places, and it may well take most of the morning before it slowly lifts into low cloud and hopefully disperses. so, a pretty miserable start, but hopefully improving later on. the cloud, that south—westerly breeze again thick enough for a spot or two of drizzle, but we could see double figures across the far north of scotland, despite the winds gusting in excess of 40—50 miles per hour across the northern isles. so, a blustery afternoon here, light winds, not shifting that fog some time soon. so, temperatures will struggle just a touch — 6—8 degrees across england and wales. as we move out of thursday into friday, the high pressure not moving very far very fast, which basically means we will continue to see a good deal of quiet weather. this weather front again increasing the risk of tonight, patchy rain, nothing particularly significant. fog could be more extensive on friday, and as a result, it could be slow to clear. if that happens, one or two places might not see temperatures climbing out of freezing, but if we get the sunshine coming through again, we're looking at 5—7 to the south, maximum of ten or 11 degrees across the far north. now, as we move towards the weekend, that quite theme will stay with us. a good deal of dry weather. the question is just how much sunshine we will see. the headlines on bbc news: the headlines at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. this week on the travel show.