open prospects still up in the air as ministers consider their visa decision. and the intermission is over — cirque du soleil are back in london after a covid—enforced hiatus — celebrating their 25th anniversary. welcome to our viewers in the uk and around the world. buckingham palace has announced that prince andrew is returning his royal and military titles to the queen, and will no longer be referred to as his royal highness in any official capacity. it comes after a court ruling in the us which left the prince facing a civil case later this year against virginia giuffre. she says she was sexually assaulted by him two decades ago when she was a teenager. he has consistently denied the allegations. prince andrew retired from public duties in november 2019 after an interview about the claims with the bbc�*s newsnight, and will now have to defend the 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, 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. 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. there've been more allegations of parties held at the british prime minister's residence, number 10 downing street, that would have breached coronavirus rules. the daily telegraph newspaper claims the events took place last april, the night before prince philip's funeral. mrjohnson is facing growing calls to resign over other parties at number 10 during the pandemic. this week he admitted attending one in his garden during england's first lockdown in 2020. he said he believed it was a work event. with me is mark lobel. more allegations more pressure on the prime minister. what are the details this time?— the details this time? reports of two more — the details this time? reports of two more gatherings - the details this time? reports of two more gatherings at - of two more gatherings at downing street. the most recent in april 2021. it will allegations now spanning 11 months of life in downing street to. months of life in downing street tw— months of life in downing street te— months of life in downing street to. , ., ., street to. the first one from 2021 previous _ street to. the first one from 2021 previous ones - street to. the first one from 2021 previous ones were - street to. the first one from | 2021 previous ones were from 2020 at. ., n_ 2021 previous ones were from 2020 at. ., :: g; 2021 previous ones were from 2020 at. ., :: ,': ., 2021 previous ones were from 2020 at. ., :: g; ., a 2020 at. from may 2023 to april 2021. this one, _ 2020 at. from may 2023 to april 2021. this one, at _ 2020 at. from may 2023 to april 2021. this one, at a _ 2020 at. from may 2023 to april 2021. this one, at a time - 2020 at. from may 2023 to april 2021. this one, at a time when l 2021. this one, at a time when no indoor mixing was between household and outdoors you could be with six people or two households could meet up. the key thing about this, it was on the eve of the funeral of prince philip, and the next day, as many viewers will remember, there was that image of the queen sitting alone. she was adhering to covid regulations by herself there. a few hours earlier, according to the story in the telegraph, around 30 downing st staff had got together for two farewells, one for the director of communications, james slack, and the other personal photographer of borisjohnson�*s photographer of boris johnson's and photographer of borisjohnson�*s and it is the details of this party that the telegraph goes into that are really quite stinging if true. there was not just alcohol, and so much so they had to go to the local supermarket allegedly with a suitcase to pick up my wine, but there was music and dancing. but there was music and dancing-— but there was music and dancin. ., ., ., , dancing. head of arts was in charue dancing. head of arts was in charge of— dancing. head of arts was in charge of the _ dancing. head of arts was in charge of the music, - dancing. head of arts was in charge of the music, she - dancing. head of arts was in | charge of the music, she was the dj. , .,, .,, ., charge of the music, she was thedj. , ., the dj. on this laptop that was bein: the dj. on this laptop that was being played — the dj. on this laptop that was being played in _ the dj. on this laptop that was being played in the _ the dj. on this laptop that was being played in the basementl being played in the basement which was not very well ventilated. they made it to the garden story is that someone broke borisjohnson�*s child's broke boris johnson's child's swing. broke borisjohnson�*s child's swing. downing street i'm not denying that an event took place. this is what they have said aboutjames place. this is what they have said about james slack. place. this is what they have said aboutjames slack. 0n place. this is what they have said aboutjames slack. on this individual�*s last day, he gave a farewell speech to thank each team for the work they have done to support it, both those who had to be into the office work and on a screen for those who were working from home. more pressure on the prime minister there. there is an investigation into previous parties. will this will now be included in that? it parties. will this will now be included in that?— included in that? it is probably _ included in that? it is probably very - included in that? it is probably very likely l included in that? it isj probably very likely it included in that? it is - probably very likely it will included in that? it 3 probably very likely it will be folded into it. certainly the remit of the investigation by sue gray it would allow it. borisjohnson was not sue gray it would allow it. boris johnson was not at this one, the april party in 2021, because he was in chequers in his country retreat, but nonetheless the deputy leader of the labour party says in reaction to this, i have no words for the coach and behaviours at number 10 and the buck stops with the pm. when that inquiry comes out, it is notjust that inquiry comes out, it is not just the met that inquiry comes out, it is notjust the met police that will be looking very closely at sue gray's reports, but also the public as many constituents will be e—mailing their mps with what their feelings are. that has already been happening as a result of the previous allegations, and so this is what andrew bridgen, who supported borisjohnson, backed supported boris johnson, backed him supported borisjohnson, backed him to be leader, and was a vocal supporter of brexit, told newsnightjust a few hours ago. have you written the letters to sir graham brady? i have. with a heavy heart, . i have written a letter to sir graham brady indicating that i have no confidence in the prime| minister, and calling - for a leadership election. the chairman of the 1922 committee, who collect letters. if 54 committee, who collect letters. if sit conservative mps send letters there will be a vote of no—confidence the prime minister and he has to win 50% of conservative mps support to stay on for another year at least. andrew bridgen comparing borisjohnson to winston churchill, johnson wrote a biography of winston churchill, one of his heroes, who won the war, but wasn't very good at leading the peace. andrew bridgen saying may be, having dealt with that covid war, boris johnson's dealt with that covid war, borisjohnson�*s misdemeanours boris johnson's misdemeanours will borisjohnson�*s misdemeanours will not be passed over so easily now that things are getting back to normal. the cabinet have been out defending borisjohnson, so they are standing by him for now, but the image of this is not good for him. you have the allegations of 30 attendees at allegations of 30 attendees at a party in downing street and a few hours later, 30 mourners only allowed at a royal. mas only allowed at a royal. was the swing — only allowed at a royal. was the swing repaired? - only allowed at a royal. was the swing repaired? we - only allowed at a royal. was| the swing repaired? we have only allowed at a royal. was - the swing repaired? we have yet to find out. _ the swing repaired? we have yet to find out, one _ the swing repaired? we have yet to find out, one would _ the swing repaired? we have yet to find out, one would assume i to find out, one would assume cell. ., ., to find out, one would assume cell. ., ,, , ., to find out, one would assume cell. ., ~' , ., , to find out, one would assume cell. ., ,, y., , . britain's security service has issued a rare alert that an alleged chinese agent has infiltrated parliament. m15 has warned mps of a woman who's been working as an agent for the chinese state and trying to influence british politicians. the security service said that christine lee was engaged in political interference on behalf of the chinese communist party. the home secretary priti patel said it was "deeply concerning", but that the uk had measures in place to identify such activities. 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, m15 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 £1t00,000 from her overfive years. in a statement today, he said he had been liaising with m15 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 m15 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 judgement 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. the usjustice department has charged the founder of a far—right extremist group with conspiring to commit sedition over the deadly attack on congress last year. earlier the fbi raided the homes connected with the texas chapter of the 0ath keepers militia group, making a number of arrests. in their charging document, the doj alleged that 11 members of the group conspired to forcefully stop the peaceful transfer of power, to the democratically elected president biden. this including the stocking of firearms with so called "quick reaction forces" just outside the dc limits on the day. with members of one chapter holding training for "unconventional warfare" in the run up to january 6th. according the prosecutors, 0ath keeper founder elmer stewart rhodes iii told followers in december that if biden came to power, "we will have to do a bloody, massive, bloody revolution against them. that's what going to have to happen". he's previously said members who entered the capitol onjanuary 6th were "off mission". ron filipkowski is a veteran and former federal prosecutor, who now researches far—right groups in the us. thank you forjoining us. i think you have knowledge, quite detailed knowledge of the 0ath keepers. they have even approached you. just explain who they are. these charges are very serious. who they are. these charges are very seriou— very serious. yes. the charges are 'ust very serious. yes. the charges are just below _ very serious. yes. the charges are just below treason. - very serious. yes. the charges are just below treason. it - very serious. yes. the charges are just below treason. it is i are just below treason. it is second only to treason as far as federal crimes go. the 0ath keepers, there are a number of pal ameritech groups in the us that my team monitors, proud boys, but of the different groups the 0ath keepers have the most military which is one of the reasons they were the most sophisticated of the groups on the 6th of january. i refer to them as the tip of the spear of the people that went into that capitol building. they were some of the first in, the most well—equipped and they train for it. they were pretty brazen leading up to the 6th of january, on social media saying what they were going to do. they also use encrypted message servicing, as well. it would seem the department ofjustice has managed to decipher and access some of that. it's leader, stewart rhodes, some of those who went into the building where of mission and he had not authorised them to do that. presumably the doj will be looking at preparation the months before this.- the months before this. yes. nine of the _ the months before this. yes. nine of the people _ the months before this. jazz nine of the people underneath him have already been in custody for several months so i would think that the number of them have already cooperated and spoken to federal authorities and most likely given statements against stewart rhodes, and that is one of the things that led to this indictment, i'm sure. so i am sure they have quite a lot of evidence. i posted on twitter today a video of stewart rhodes two days before january six, where he laid out exactly what he was going to do that day, two days ahead of time. going into a bit more _ two days ahead of time. going into a bit more detail - two days ahead of time. going into a bit more detail about. into a bit more detail about the 0ath keepers. they believe in the deep state, they believe the government is infiltrated by marxists. what more do they say, and what evidence do they have about any of the claims they make? i think they have approached you, as well, haven't they?— approached you, as well, haven't they? they have. i sometimes _ haven't they? they have. i sometimes go _ haven't they? they have. i sometimes go to - haven't they? they have. i sometimes go to trump i haven't they? they have. i - sometimes go to trump rallies and other conservative political rallies and blend in and i will wear my military stuff and i have been approached more than once because that is what they do, they tend to recruit military guys, at right wing political rallies, for their organisation. and they believe there is a shadow government which they refer to as the deep state that is really secretly running everything, not the elected officials, and that donald trump was going to go in there and oust all of these people and clean them out of the government and they believed on the 6th of january that it was the same group conspiring to fix the election for biden and they were going to stop it. for biden and they were going to step it-_ to stop it. what sort of political _ to stop it. what sort of political support - to stop it. what sort ofj political support higher to stop it. what sort of. political support higher up to stop it. what sort of - political support higher up the chain do they have? that political support higher up the chain do they have?— political support higher up the chain do they have? that is the big question — chain do they have? that is the big question right _ chain do they have? that is the big question right now. - chain do they have? that is the big question right now. is - big question right now. is there a connection, direct connection, between the leaders of these groups that were on the ground that went into the capital, and the actual political leaders who were trying to organise overturning the election? there was clearly physical connections, we saw roger stone, alexjones, among others in donald trump's circle, michael flynn in and around these guys, but as far as them directing that day about what they wanted to do, i have seen no direct evidence of that. is have seen no direct evidence of that. , ., , ,~' that. is ok. ron filipkowski, thank you — that. is ok. ron filipkowski, thank you for _ that. is ok. ron filipkowski, thank you forjoining - that. is ok. ron filipkowski, thank you forjoining us. - stay with us on bbc news, still to come... back from the brink — cirque du soleil return to london after a coronavirus imposed break to celebrate their 25th anniversary. 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 bbc news, our top story... 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. 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 under way 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. tracey holmes is the host of the ticket podcast, she says there have been developments in the story — outside of the minister's decision. we're in a holding pattern, and everybody is — from novak djokovic, to the other players, to the tournament organisers, to the media watching on. and, of course, the huge international interest that we have seen. there have been a couple of developments. one that i can confirm with you — which i don't think anybody else yet has — but two other players who came into australia on the same visa and documents as novak djokovic actually flew out of australia when they saw what was happening to novak, and when they saw what happened to the czech player, renata voracova, who of course was detained and then deported. so that means there are four people who have now left australia. voracova, two other players whose identity is being kept quiet because of their medical records, and the official who was also deported and sent home from australia. so there are big questions there, then, about whether there was a shift in policy between when they arrived and when novak djokovic arrived — or at least a shift in the prosecution of the policy — or whether australian border force failed to pick up four other people who were then circulating in and around the melbourne 0pen ahead of novak djokovic's arrival. that's fascinating, in terms of another development. alex hawke — i mean, so much has been said about that he could actually issue this denial of the visa at his own discretion. what is his own discretion — i mean, what is that based on? it's written into the immigration act, and essentially it is to protect the health and the safety of the australian community. so it would be on that sort of a basis that novak djokovic would be deemed to be somebody in the community that makes us unsafe, or impacts the health of the community which he's circulating in. so a lot of this was written back, you know, as way back as 1958, i think, when the act was first put together. it has been added to, of course, over time, and part of the additions have been through the era of terrorism to ensure that people of not good character are able to be expelled at ministerial discretion. i think many people, you know, would question whether this fits into that part, but that is what the minister and his colleagues have been looking at for the past four days, in order to determine whether novak djokovic fits into this very specific area of the law. tracey holmes. with its high—flying acrobats and circus contortionsists, cirque de soleil leaves audiences around the world in awe. well, the performers are back with a new show. 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 trapeze 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 du 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 its return to the capital is a bright light during a challenging time for theatres. fantastic. goodbye. 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. in the southeast. 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. the headlines: britain's prince andrew has returned his military honours and royal patronages. and will no longer use the title his royal highness. it follows the news on wedneday that the prince must defend an accusation of sexually assaulting virginia guiffre in a us civil court case. he denies the allegation. there's been more allegations of parties held at the uk prime minister's residence — downing street — that would have breached coronavirus rules. the events reportedly took place last april — the night before prince philip's funeral. borisjohnson was away at the time. for the first time — the usjustice department has brought sedition charges in connection with the storming of the capitol building in washongton last january. the founder of a far—right group — the 0ath keepers — has been charged along with ten others. now on bbc news, it's time for panorama. tonight on panorama, hospitals under pressure as the impact of winter and covid bite. so the priority for the a&e team this evening will be making sure they are, keeping patients on the ambulances safe. the worry for us is the ones who haven't been seen yet the latest variant 0micron is still sweeping the uk jc: do you think it was 0micron that caused this. ? maria: i — my feeling is yes. coz i've been fullyjabbed. i think what would i have been like if i hadn't have done that? it can be hard to find enough beds. they're under immense pressure again today?with this area being overfull — we've got patients waiting to be seen staff absences are taking their toll too. medical staff, nursing staff, our other support staff. we had so manyjunior doctors go off because they were