we will have the latest and the saga gripping the world of sports. the australian open starts on monday but know that novak djokovic can still be deported before he plays. and of record high temperatures in australia. the weather forecast is think he could get even hotter. is it due to climate change? hello and thanks for joining us: buckingham palace has announced that prince andrew is returning his royal and military titles to queen elizabeth. he will no longer be referred to as his royal highness in any official capacity. it comes just a day after prince andrew's lawyers failed to persuade a judge in america to dismiss a civil lawsuit, accusing him of sexually abusing a teenager two decades ago. the duke of york has consistently denied the allegations. buckingham palace says he will continue not to carry out any public duties, and will defend the civil court case as a private citizen. here's our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. it was a day to take stock. for andrew, seen leaving his home near windsor castle this morning, to ponder the situation in which he now finds himself. a situation in which, for him, none of the options is a good one. the days of this, of standing proudly on the balcony of buckingham palace, in military uniform, the days of this, of standing proudly on the balcony of buckingham palace, in military uniform, alongside his family, are over. his family and particularly his elder brother charles and his nephew, william, had to put aside family feeling. the priority now was the family's protection from severe reputational damage. just after five o'clock, buckingham palace issued a short statement regarding the duke of york. with the queen's approval and agreement, the duke of york's military affiliations and royal patronages have been returned to the queen. the duke of york will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen. at the same time, the palace let it be known that andrew would no longer be known as his royal highness. so, what does it all mean? it means we will never see andrew like this again, riding as honorary colonel of the grenadier guards at trooping the colour. he has stepped down by mutual agreement, we are told, from that position and from roles in nearly a dozen other regiments. he is also giving up roles in the royal navy and the raf. in military circles, there was considerable relief. the mp, tobias ellwood, is a former army officer. the royal family has an intimate relationship with the regiments, going back in history, many of them are honorary colonels and so forth and it is important that the problems that prince andrew has incurred are not bled over into the regiments that he was representing. from sources close to andrew, we were told that he would fight on. the duke will continue to defend himself against these claims, they said. the claims began more than ten years ago now, with the publication of this photograph of andrew with the then 17—year—old virginia roberts and this photograph of him with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. in his newsnight interview, andrew said he rued the day he became involved with epstein. and that is the bit that, as it were, i kick myself for, on a daily basis, because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices and i let the side down. simple as that. two years on from that interview, andrew, duke of york, second son of the queen, ninth in line to the british throne stands alone. nicholas witchell, bbc news. our correspondent helena wilkinson is outside windsor castle. with that interview, he has led a very isolated life year and he shares his home with his former wife year and perhaps he is going to be turning to her in this moment. but going forward, we are not going to see prince andrew out and about as a working member of the royalfamily and that as a working member of the royal family and that decision clearly decides to separate prince andrew's court case from the royal families public duties. he will now focus on the case, the queen who should be celebrating this year, or 70 years on the throne, the palace will be very much hoping that this decision about prince andrew will lift what was a very dark cloud over the celebrations. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines. a former syrian colonel has been jailed for life in germany for mass torture, killings and other abuses. the crimes were committed at a prison in damascus known as �*hell on earth�* during the 2011 protest. anwar raslan is the most senior syrian official to be held accountable anywhere for crimes against humanity carried out under president bashar al—assad. for the first time, the us justice department has brought sedition charges in connection with the storming of the capitol building in washington last january. the founder of a far— right militia, the 0ath keepers, has been charged along with ten others. the us supreme court has blocked a key part of president biden�*s strategy to combat the pandemic. it rejected the policy of making covid vaccinations or weekly testing compulsory at firms with over a hundred employees. the court was divided along political lines, with the six conservative judges all deciding against the strategy. there are fresh allegations that parties were held in downing street — at a time when indoor mixing between people from different households was banned in england because of covid—19. the daily telegraph has reported that one such gathering, involving around 30 people drinking and dancing until the early hours, took place the night before prince philip's funeral, in april. number ten has not denied the claims. there've been further calls tonight from conservative mps for borisjohnson to step down. there's no easy way to clean the current situation and since first thing no sign of the prime minister. a planned public visit was cancelled because one of his family has covid. while he hunkered down here, others spoke up for him after yesterday's apology. he was ashen faced, he was upset, he was truly genuinely heartfelt sorry for the upset and the rage that people are feeling. he gets it. 0n the airwaves there was a chorus of loyalty. there is no question in my mind borisjohnson was acting in good faith. with hindsight he regrets going out into the garden. he has apologised very, very clearly. j the cabinet have shown theirsupport, including the chancellor, though from him it was quieter. mr speaker, i want to apologise. for many, yesterday's apologyjust didn't cut it. the mood among tories is dim. some critics are keeping their counsel for now, waiting perhaps to hear from their constituencies. stamford in lincolnshire is rock—solid tory turf. long—standing members of the conservative association were as one. if he wants to be remembered as a good prime minister then i think he has to consider, is it the time now to resign. i think it would be better if he just resigned, rather than waiting for a vote of confidence. i think he would get a lot more respect. a lot of the long serving - members in the association have very vocally said that it's time for him to go. - scotland's tory leader has already said the same. his call for borisjohnson to resign caused something of a party row. jacob rees—mogg, as anyone, is entitled to their opinions. i don't happen to agree with them. jacob rees—mogg had called him a lightweight and questioned his loyalty, and now he's suggested lockdown rules might have been too tough at the time of the downing street gathering — asking today... whether all those regulations were proportionate or whether it was too hard on people...whether it was too hard on people. labour wasn't impressed. here, frustration at the government is far from fading. whether public or private, there is real anger across the conservative party at borisjohnson, but many mps are waiting for the findings of the official investigation before passing finaljudgement. even when that's published in the next week or so, it's likely it will be the political mood that follows that ultimately determines the prime minister's fate. there's a lot riding on sue gray, the civil servant leading the cabinet office enquiry. even the met police said today, they'd wait for her findings before deciding if there's anything to investigate. labour says the prime minister needs to act. he knowingly misled, lied to parliament, which in itself is a resignation offence under the ministerial code, but we're also calling for him to resign because of the damage that he's done to public trust and public confidence in health measures at a crucial time. for now, borisjohnson is in downing street, but make no mistake, this matter is far from closed. alex forsyth, bbc news, westminster. britain's security service — mi5 — has issued a highly unusual alert to members of parliament, warning that a woman working for the chinese state has been seeking to influence uk politicians. it said christine ching kui lee was engaged in political interference on behalf of the chinese communist party. here's our security correspondent, gordon corera: a figure at the heart of westminster, with access to politicians from all parties, even a prime minister. but today lawyer christine lee is accused of working secretly on behalf of the chinese state. in a highly unusual move, mi5 today issued this alert to parliamentarians. they were warned that miss lee had been working with an arm of the chinese communist party to covertly interfere in uk politics through establishing links with established and aspiring parliamentarians. the fact that this alert has become public today in the way in which it has, is really a very strong illustration of how our intelligence and security agencies have been working together to really spot and identify this type of activity, activity that could potentially do harm to our country and harm to our democracy. there was no one here today at christine lee's london office and she has not yet responded to the claims. the allegation is that she was funnelling money to politicians, claiming it came from within the uk, when in fact it came from china, all in order to secure influence for the chinese communist party. former labour frontbencher barry gardiner received more than £a00,000 from her overfive years. in a statement today, he said he had been liasing with mi5 and he stopped receiving funding for parliamentary researchers in 2020, although miss lee's son was working in mr gardiner�*s office until he resigned today. this is really serious. we won't play this down, we are not running scare stories, i am genuinely concerned and shocked that this has been allowed to happen. we need to understand why, we need to do something about it, but also we have to recognise that the chinese government poses a clear and present danger to us and stop messing around. today's alert came after what i'm told is a lengthy and serious investigation by mi5 here, but christine lee is not being prosecuted. this isn't about spying on the traditional sense of stealing secrets, it's about influence and the judgment was that the best way of disrupting her alleged activities was by issuing this very unusual warning. inside british intelligence, concerns about chinese influence have been growing in recent years. today is a sign that those fears could go right to the heart of westminster and we are told to expect more of these warnings in the future. gordon corera, bbc news. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme. 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. huge parts of kobe were simply 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. 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 9610th performance of the 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've been the last person to want such a thing. this is newsday on the bbc. buckingham palace says prince andrew has returned his military honours and royal patronages to the queen. and, he will no longer use the title his royal highness. britain's security service issues a rare warning — a chinese agent has been trying to influence the country's lawmakers. to australia now, where we've been following the sensational row over novak djokovic's arrival ahead of the australian open. the tennis world number one was granted a medical exemption to play, despite being unvaccinated, and has been included in the draw for the tournament which gets underway on monday. australian immigration minister, alex hawke, still holds ministerial powers to cancel the player's visa but is yet to finalise his decision, leaving a cloud of uncertainty around the saga. 0ur correspondent, phil mercer, is covering the story from melbourne. well, know that djokovic has been drawn to play a fellow serb in the first rounds and so if he gets to play, though it took place here in melbourne park on monday or tuesday of next week. but, we're still waiting for confirmation. either way from the australian government as to whether or not he will be able to stay in the country. it's well over weeks and snow that djokovic was detained at melbourne international airport. a lot has happened in the meantime, he was in immigration detention, get the visa cancellation overturned by a court on monday and for the last few days, we've been waiting to hear from australia's immigration minister. will he or won't he cancel know that djokovic's visa. there is a lot of speculation in the mediation australia that that decision could happen today. and so, it is all up in the air at the moment. is all up in the air at the moment-— is all up in the air at the moment. �* , ., ., moment. all up in the air for sure but— moment. all up in the air for sure but if— moment. all up in the air for sure but if that _ moment. all up in the air for sure but if that does - moment. all up in the air for sure but if that does happen| sure but if that does happen and it is a big if here, what options does know that djokovic have? if options does know that d'okovic have? ~' ., options does know that d'okovic have? ~ ., ., options does know that d'okovic have? ~' ., ., , . have? if know that d'okovic visa is cancelled, h have? if know that d'okovic visa is cancelled, it h have? if know that djokovic visa is cancelled, it would l visa is cancelled, it would certainly go back to court. he has huge wealth behind him, his legal team, extremely experienced as we saw on the court case earlier this week. of the immigration minister of the immigration minister decides to cancel the visa, almost certainly a court case will follow. 0f almost certainly a court case will follow. of course, times of the essence here. it is friday morning here in melbourne and the australian open on monday. so, whichever way this long—running saga is going to turn, it will have to turn pretty quickly given as we say, the first grand slam of the year starts pretty soon here. �* . . , the year starts pretty soon here. ~ ., ., , ., ., here. and against that weather, i do not envy — here. and against that weather, i do not envy the _ here. and against that weather, i do not envy the players - here. and against that weather, i do not envy the players and i i do not envy the players and spectators. thank you for that. the final question is what's the perception of how this is all playing out and australia and how much of the debate has the steward about the treatment between vaccinated and unvaccinated people? this between vaccinated and unvaccinated people? this is a massive story, not _ unvaccinated people? this is a massive story, notjust - unvaccinated people? this is a massive story, notjust around all that djokovic, but the fact that this story has erupted in the middle of the surging omicron outbreak right across australia. we are seeing record—breaking case numbers right around most of australia and there was a poll on the new site suggesting that the vast majority of australians wanted to see know that djokovic deported. this is a country thatis deported. this is a country that is facing great fear and anxiety among the virus in the australians will see djokovic as a wealthy celebrity who was trying to bend the rules and him and his supporters see things very differently but safe to say that this is a story that has been very keenly watched here as it is far beyond these inclement shores. australia has matched its hottest day on record after a remote coastal town reported temperatures of fifty— point— seven celsius (50.7c). the temperature in 0nslow in western australia on thursday equalled a record set sixty years ago in south australia. but is it due to climate change? i asked professor lesley hughes from mc-quarry university to explain why this is happening. well, the world is in a long—term global warming trend and while average temperatures are often what is recorded, long—term trend also means that the incidence of extreme events like artist ever records are also inevitable and that is so piercing in western australia at the moment. for piercing in western australia at the moment.— at the moment. for the conditions _ at the moment. for the conditions there - at the moment. for the conditions there now i at the moment. for the l conditions there now and at the moment. for the - conditions there now and how are people coping with these sorts of temperatures? we think virtually everyone _ sorts of temperatures? we think virtually everyone is _ sorts of temperatures? we think virtually everyone is inside - virtually everyone is inside with a air—conditioning they haven't. if your insight and air conditioning, you can sit it out because being outside and 50 plus degrees is extremely dangerous to human health. but of course not everyone can afford air conditioning or have access to air conditioning and icide article this morning indicating that the local jail article this morning indicating that the localjail doesn't have air conditioning and so the inmates will be suffering a great deal. so, once again, these sorts of extreme climactic events do bring home the fact that some the most vulnerable people in our society are the most vulnerable to climate change.— to climate change. absolutely, leslie. to climate change. absolutely, leslie- and _ to climate change. absolutely, leslie. and that _ to climate change. absolutely, leslie. and that is _ to climate change. absolutely, leslie. and that is the - leslie. and that is the condition for people. i know there's also been an impact on wildlife and animals in that area. . , . area. that is right. piercing im acts area. that is right. piercing impacts on _ area. that is right. piercing impacts on heat _ area. that is right. piercing impacts on heat waves - area. that is right. piercing | impacts on heat waves over area. that is right. piercing - impacts on heat waves over the past decades as well. particularly birds and flying foxes are very vulnerable and even those birds that normally live in really hot and arid climates can suffer mass mortality. when conditions get to be so extreme. especially if they don't have access to supplies of water. heat waves and other sorts of climactic extremes are driving a lot of ecosystem changes, notjust ecosystem changes, not just western ecosystem changes, notjust western australia but places like our great barrier reef which is seen unprecedented events over the past couple of years. with its high flying acrobats and circus contortionsists, cirque de soleil left audiences around the world in awe. but the pandemic very nearly bankrupted the group. well the performers are back with a new show — and bhavani vadde's been taking a look. their future was up in the air, but now a comeback, and final rehearsals for the premier of luzia, a show promising a visual extravaganza set in an imaginary mexico. a glimpse behind—the—scenes shows us what it takes to be part of this troupe, something helena always dreamt of. i started when i was five years old. really, i think all of that adds up to now as well, and to maintain the show and run the show at least a few hours a day coming up to the premiere and getting everybody coming up to the premiere and getting everybody back together and retrained, we are working all day, yeah, six days a week. the latest show takes water and light as inspiration, with tapeze artists twirling through pouring showers. contortionists twisting themselves into unimaginable positions. as well as plenty of other acrobatic stunts and surprises. we up the ante every time we come back with more spectacular, original acrobatics, more special effects, a whole different concept, a whole different story, new costumes. and really they can expect to be moved off their seats. this year, cirque de soleil celebrate 25 years of performing at the royal albert hall, and it coincides with the venue's 150th anniversary celebration. it is really special to be here in the royal albert hall. for many of us it is the highlight of our career. i think it is something that a lot of us will look back on, and it is going to be that really special moment and one of the few we will have and really remember as the biggest. the company opened to a royal gala last time they were at the royal albert hall, but then coronavirus hit, which led to shows around the world being cancelled, 95% of staff being laid off and near bankruptcy for the company. we actually did a run through for the first time yesterday and we all wept a little bit. i don't think you expect how much it did hurt, how much it hurt... you come back to work, it's another day on the job, but to see the show come back to life, all of us come back to life after two years was quite an emotional moment for all of us. the global circus brand is hoping it to return to the capital is a bright light during a challenging time for theatres. now — let me make you smile. the best pictures of the day. have a look at this. the emotional reunion of two brothers who were separated by the partition of india — 7a years ago. muhammad siddique and habib, last saw each other in 1947, when british rule ended in india and it was divided into two independent nation states — india and pakistan. incredible — heart warming scenes as they met in kartarpur in pakistan. for some of us it's going to be a very foggy start to friday, if you're planning to travel through the morning, take it steady particularly across parts of wales, central and southern england. but for most of us, it should be a sunny start to the day. brought by this area of high pressure which is been hanging around for quite a while. windless conditions too but quite a contrast for the uk and in fact, the breeze is just about coming off the atlantic, across scotland so frost free here and frost free generally for northern ireland too. the frost will be across southern half of england and wales and minus four degrees in a few spots here, it's also where the fog is going to be forming in the centre of this high pressure here and some of that fog will linger into the afternoon but as i say for most of us, it is a sunny day. the problem of the high pressure and the windless conditions in london in the southeast will be the pollution. it sometimes happens when you get these very stable conditions with the light winds and the pollutants get trapped in the atmosphere. but for friday, be for london in the southeast. it is a bright day for many of us of us of fresh air and temperatures around five or seven degrees. more of fresh air and temperatures around five or 7 degrees. more of a breeze on saturday which means that some of these pollutants will be blown away, so not quite so bad in the sight of these. and the weather most of the we are going to start off on a foggy note once again and particularly across central and southern parts of england and wales. more of a south—westerly breeze here i think in scotland and northern ireland, so a bit more cloud here and in fact, there's a weather front approaching in a bit of a nuance in a weather heading for the north of the country and a week whether front which will bring some spots of rain into sunday for scotland and then eventually some spots of rain on sunday morning in the north of england as this weather front topples around this area of high—pressure that we have in the south. temperatures of ten degrees in london, for some it will be around eight or so. let us summarise all of that. watch out for the fog and on friday morning, quite nasty in places but then after that, the weather isn't looking too bad at all. very stable, weather to come in the coming days. this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after