hello and welcome. the world s number one tennis player, novak djokovic, has begun his appeal against his deportation from australia. the government says that djokovic, who hasn t had a covid jab, is a threat to public order and might foster anti vaccination sentiment . his lawyers say the decision to throw him out the country is irrational. djokovic still hopes to begin defending his australian open title on monday. judges from the australian federal court are hearing the appeal via video link. our correspondent, phil mercer, is outside the court in melbourne. he s scheduled to play his opening round match against a fellow serbian on monday as well. time is of the essence. we know that he left he is following proceedings that his lawyers office, so he should know sometime today whether he is free to compete in the australian open or will be forced to depart, be deported from australia. obviously, he has had his supporters throughout all of this there in australia, but how w
This is bbc news: i m annita mcveigh with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. running out of time novak djokovic arrives to hear his lawyers final appeal against the cancellation of his australian visa. police in texas are negotiating with a man who appears to have taken hostages at a synagogue. the first case of the omicron variant confirmed in beijing, just three weeks before the start of the winter olympics. a huge underwater volcanic eruption near tonga triggers tsunami warnings across the pacific ocean.
Opening round match against a fellow serbian on monday as well. time is of the essence. we know that he left he is following proceedings that his lawyers office, so he should know sometime today whether he is free to compete in the australian open or will be forced to depart, be deported from australia. obviously, he has had his supporters throughout all of this there in australia, but how would you sum up the majority of the public mood right now? majority of the public mood riaht now? . ., ., right now? there are a handful of novak djokovic s right now? there are a handfull of novak djokovic s supporters, many serbian and australians who have rallied to the cause.
Some of them are here today, they are following proceedings online on their phones and having spoken to a couple of them a few minutes ago, they say they are confident that their hero will be exonerated, that his visa will be reinstated and that he will be allowed to play. as for the broader australian population, a country of 25 billion people, various online polls have shown that the majority of people want to see novak djokovic expeued want to see novak djokovic expelled from this country. australia has high rates of vaccination, but also very high rates of covid 19 infection, we are seeing tens of thousands of new infections being reported every day in this country this is uncharted territory throughout the pandemic for australia. this is a nervous uncertain time, and many australians believe that here we have an unvaccinated tennis player who has come into the country, and their opinion, flouting the rules, and they
Want to see him gone. not everyone agrees with that, of course, some believe that novak djokovic has been treated unfairly. at the real decision that matters of crisper today and the australian open is the decision by the full courts of the federal court here in australia deciding whether his visa should be reinstated, or he will be on his way back home. in the united states the fbi are negotiating with a man who has taken people hostage at a synagogue. homes nearby in the city of colleyville are being evacuated. it s not thought anyone has been injured. our correspondent nomia iqbal is following latest developments from washington. what we do know so far is that this started around about three hours ago. so the congregation shabbat service was under way, it was being live streamed, there were no images, though but people that were listening to it could hear a man. and he, before the live feed was cut off, could be heard