it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 10am in melbourne where a court hearing is just getting underway — to decide on novak djokovic�*s appeal against deportation from australia. the men's tennis number one has been holed up in a government detention hotel in melbourne since he arrived in the country on wednesday.the australian government says he is not exempt from the requirement for visiting foreigners to be vaccinated. from melbourne, shaimaa khalil reports. for days, they've been showing their solidarity on the streets of melbourne. no court appearance for novak djokovic, who is still in an immigration detention hotel six days after flying in. oh, man, i haven't slept since he's come off the plane. we're all sick to the stomach. it's a very unfortunate situation for australia, it's becoming very embarrassing. the prospect of djokovic�*s deportation has sparked a sporting and diplomatic storm, and today, former wimbledon champion andy murray weighed in, saying the row is really not good

it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore and 7pm in the evening in washington, where president biden has placed more than 8,000 us—based troops on a heightened state of alert, as russia continues to mass soldiers near its border with ukraine. the pentagon spokesman said that, if deployed, the troops would be sent to bolster nato�*s presence in eastern europe. mr biden has been holding talks with key european allies over a common strategy towards russia over ukraine. moscow denies planning to invade. 0ur correspondent gabriel gatehouse sent this report from the ukrainian capital kyiv. bell rings this is a country in limbo, waiting for an invasion that looks more likely with every passing day but may yet never come. to the east, 100,000 russian troops are massed, but the kremlin says talk of an invasion is hysteria. facing them are ukrainian soldiers who hear western leaders sounding the alarm in ever starker tones. and stuck in between are the people of kyiv who, frankly, don't know what to believe.

it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore, ”am in melbourne and 4am in dubai where in the next 90 minutes or so, novak djokovic is expected to touch down following his deportation from australia. a panel ofjudges upheld the australian government's decision — that his refusal to be vaccinated against covid—19 made him a threat to public health. the serbian prime minster has accused australia of a witch hunt. meanwhile, back in melbourne, the australian open is now under way — without its defending men's champion. from there shaimaa khalil reports he's used to winning on court, but today, he was defeated in it. the world number one men's tennis player lost his last—ditch battle to stay in the country and was forced out of australia. ..the amended application be dismissed, with costs... threejudges upheld the government's decision to cancel his visa. the immigration minister had argued that the unvaccinated tennis star's presence here could bolster anti—vaccination sentiment. in his statement, t

it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and two in the morning in moscow, where russia has said there is room for further dialogue on the ukraine crisis — but warned that the us position as set out in a letter to the kremlin, does not meet their security demands. key to what russia will do next is vladimir putin. is he trying to stop the eastward expansion of nato or has he already made up his mind to invade? steve rosenberg reports from moscow. the world is still puzzling to piece together a picture of what vladimir putin is thinking. what he's planning... what are his intentions in ukraine and in europe? russian muscle flexing... ..is one piece of the geopoliticaljigsaw. military exercises and 100,000 russian troops near ukraine's border are fuelling fears of a russian invasion. so are moscow's demands. we just ask our partners in nato countries — get out. get out from our borders. get out from post—soviet countries, because it's threatening to russian people, to russian citizens and time is r

it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and 6pm in the evening in new york, where prince andrew is demanding a trial byjury. he formally denied all the allegations against him, as he gave a court his official response to allegations of sexual assault. virginia giuffre accuses the duke of york of forcing her to have sex more than two decades ago at the london home of the convicted sex trafficker ghislaine maxwell. the 11—page document sets out the duke's detailed response, strongly denying that he abused ms giuffre when she was 17. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has more details. across 11 pages, andrew's lawyers have set out his defence — a denial of the central allegation of sexual abuse made by virginia giuffre and an assertion in respect of others that andrew lacks sufficient information to either admit or deny what's been claimed. he says, for example, in relation to the widely publicised picture of the two of them, that he doesn't have enough information to admit or d

it's newsday. it's seven in the morning in singapore and ten in the morning in melbourne, where world tennis champion novak djokovic has been denied entry to australia to compete in the australian open, following a controversy over his covid vaccine exemption. there had been huge criticism that he was receiving special treatment. the state government in victoria now says it will noy now says it will not support his visa application. citing the country's strict border policies, australian prime minister scott morrison said "rules are rules, and no—one is above them." our sports correspondent, natalie pirks, has more. it's the story that has gripped australia. access denied, an extraordinary visa bungle sees novak djokovic for hours under armed guard at melbourne airport... this was no mere bungle. in the last hour, the defending champion has been told his visa has been revoked and he will be deported. mrjokovic has failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to australia

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... a legal document signed between virginia giuffre and jeffrey epstein 12 years ago has been made public. it's potentially key to her civil case against prince andrew. with beijing's winter olympics just weeks away, we find out how china is preparing for a global event in a global pandemic. where are the people? well, the reason there are no people here is that the local they'll be able to take a high—speed train there because some of the trains are operating completely within the bubble. us regulators approve covid boosters for children aged 12—15 as the country battles a surge in omicron infections. three, two, one... our seoul correspondent takes the g—force test to fly fighterjets as she reports on south korea's defence spending spree. we're still officially- at war with north korea. over the country, . there have also been increasing air incursions. live from our studio in singapore... this is bbc news. it's newsday. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in the uk and

us on newsday.- stuart, thank you so much for joining us on newsday. in other stories for you today, south korea has pushed its defence budgets to new highs in the last four years — spending an extra $90 million a year on new technology. in 2021, it fired new missiles and even launched its own space programme. the country currently relies on the united states for its defence, but it appears seoul is keen to try to stand on its own two feet. 0ur correspondent laura bicker has had exclusive access to south korean air force training. three, two, one. i am trying to pass a g force test. two, three... and, well, it's not easy. 0h, oh, my god. i'm here training with the air force to find out more about south korea's aim to be a military powerhouse. but before i can fly, i have to stay conscious. keep going, keep going, keep going! 0k, good. wow! wonderful. great, great! south korea has shown off its biggest military advancements yet in 2021. it fired an array of new missiles and launched its first rocke

thank you very much on newsday. we've heard a lot about the perilous threat to coral reefs around the world because of climate change. but a previously unknown giant coral reef has been discovered off the coast of tahiti in "pristine" condition. victoria gill report. "magical." that was one of the words a veteran specialist diver who led this mission used to describe this view. some of these rose—shaped corals are more than two metres wide, and the whole reef structure stretches three kilometres along the sea bed. its depth and its distance from the coast is thought to be a key reason for its pristine condition. the researchers say it shows no signs of damage from pollution or from warming ocean temperatures, something that poses a major threat to shallower reefs. it looks beautiful, but scientifically how important is this, as a discovery? it might be, to date, one of the largest coral reefs in the world that actually lies at that sort of depth of more than 30 metres. so, from that perspective, that is opening a

live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news — it's newsday. welcome to newsday. it's 9:00 in the morning in singapore, and 8:00 in the evening in washington, where the us state department has ordered eligible family members of its embassy staff in the ukrainian capital, kyiv, to leave. it's also advised americans against travelling to russia. it said there were reports that moscow was planning significant military action against ukraine and urged us citizens to leave the country now, using commercial flights. us secretary of state, antony blinken, has promised a significant response if moscow invaded its neighbour. later on monday, european union foreign ministers are to discuss ukraine at a meeting in brussels. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. in california, fresh supplies of american weapons destined for ukraine. hardly enough to defeat an invading russian army, but the message to moscow is clear — if you do this, it'll come at a price. but now the foreign office says it's seen signs of a russian plan to install a puppet government in kyiv aft

it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 5pm in dallas, where a man who took four people hostage at a synagogue — and held them for ten hours — has been identified by the fbi as ali—year old british citizen malik faisal akram. the four hostages were freed by police — the hostage taker died at the scene. us presidentjoe biden has called the siege "an act of terror". the family of the hostage taker in the uk have released a statement saying they do not condone any of his actions and they apologise to all the victims involved. sophie long has this report from texas. this is the moment the three final hostages ran for their lives, more than ten hours after their ordeal began. a successful but nonetheless terrifying end to the delicate day—long operation involving negotiators and heavily armed police. negotiators and heavily the man, now identified as malik faisal akram, a 44—year—old british citizen originally from lancashire, was shot and killed. he'd claimed to have a gun and a bomb whe

it's newsday. it's nine in the morning here in singapore, 1am in london, where boris johnson's reported to be edging closer to a leadership challenge — with more mps openly speaking out against him over parties held at downing street during lockdowns. with a difficult day ahead, another difficult one comes to a close. faced with claims by his former closest advisor that he misled parliament, boris johnson's categorically denied he was warned about parties at his downing street. in a moment we'll hear from a former conservative party press chief about the pm's position, but first here's our deputy political editor vicki young with the day's events. prime ministers are surrounded by people offering advice. but in the end, they have to use their own judgement. borisjohnson has admitted joining colleagues for drinks in the garden when the country was locked down, something he now regrets. i carry full responsibility for what took place, but nobody told me, i'm absolutely categorical about this, nobod

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... inside china's latest battleground against coronavirus — a city of more than 1 million is under lockdown afterjust three reported cases. as the us hits the highest number of daily infections ever recorded anywhere in the world, president biden urges people to get vaccinated. this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated, so we got to make more progress. uk hospitals are struggling to handle the surge in covid cases, but borisjohnson says england is in a better place compared to previous waves. with the plan b measures we introduced before christmas, we have a chance to ride out of this omicron wave without shutting down our country once again. we'll bejoined on the programme by a public health expert to discuss the latest numbers and anti—covid strategies. also ahead: lawyers for prince andrew argue for the first time in court, that the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him should be thrown out. they say he can't be sued because of an agreement signed by his accuser. and

to us on newsday-_ much for taking the time to speak to us on newsday. thank you so much for the opportunity- _ borisjohnson�*s former chief adviser dominic cummings, now one of his leading critics, has said he warned the uk prime minister in person about a downing street drinks party, in may 2020, during the first lockdown. last week mrjohnson said he believed he was attending a �*work event�* —— and downing street said it was untrue that the prime minister had been given a warning about the event in advance. 0ur political editor laura kuenssberg has more details. the prime minister needs friends. an earlyjog with the dog at the start of a week that could decide his future. waiting for an official verdict over what gatherings were going on under his own roof during lockdown. last week there was an apology and an admission about one event. i believed implicitly that this was a work event. but, mr speaker, with hindsight i should have sent everyone back inside. the evening in the number 10 garden had been organised by one of his right—hand men

you have been watching newsday. stay with us. hello there. high pressure has kept most of the uk dry through the weekend if rather cloudy, but high pressure has meant a dry start to january 2022, only about 50%, half the rainfall we would normally see by this stage. not a great deal of rain this week. certainly not in england and wales. we might see more midweek across scotland, with low pressure approaching. in the meantime, high pressure is still hanging on towards the south, a weather front to the north has given 80 millimetres of rain on sunday. sinking further south on monday, but coming into the high pressure it is a weak affair. still quite a bit of cloud, but where we had to break through the night with patchy frost and fog, some poor visibility, but not widespread. it will take time to clear at this time of year. some sunshine in eastern scotland perhaps north east england, and some thin cloud elsewhere, perhaps gloomy in some areas, and cold, 4— at best. the weather front in the north will weaken as it heads towards the moray firt

i —— newsday. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme... predictions of a tough year ahead for travellers in asia due to omicron. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for after his long years in exile the first hesitant steps of the ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid. and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. three, two, one. the countdown to the critical - moment, the worlds most powerful rocket ignited all of its 27 engines at once and part of its power - is this recycling of the rocket - slashing the cost of the launch that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to this patient. one would call it a piece of cake. thousands of people have given the yauchtwoman alan macarthur a spectacular homecoming in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record for sailin

it's newsday stop welcome to newsday — its seven in the morning in singapore and six in the evening in washington where the us secretary of state has said it is "too soon" to impose stricter sanctions against russia for its hostile stance towards ukraine. antony blinken said the deterrence value of the measures would be lost if they were triggered prematurely. it comes as yevhen murayev — a former ukrainian mp — dismissed an allegation from britain that the kremlin is planning to install him as the head of a russian puppet government in kyiv. an adviser to the ukrainian president said the british allegation needed to be taken seriously, but downplayed the status of mr murayev within the country's political scene. here's our diplomatic correspondent, paul adams. in california, fresh supplies of american weapons destined for ukraine. hardly enough to defeat an invading russian army, but the message to moscow is clear — if you do this, it'll come at a price. but now the foreign office says it's seen signs of a russian plan to install a puppet government in kyiv after an invasion, pr

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. 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

it's newsday. it's 8am in the morning in singapore and midnight in london, where the metropolitan police is now investigating multiple events since 2020 at downing street — and across government — to see whether there were breaches of covid restrictions. the commissioner of britain's biggest police force confirmed that her officers are now looking into potential rule—breaking — after civil servants who are also compiling a report on what happened passed on information. the bbc understands the met police has no objection to that report, by sue gray, being published while their investigation is ongoing. here's our political editor, laura kuenssberg. the law applies in every town, every city, every road and every house, and in the sm postcode of number 10. and the police have concluded they've seen enough about what happened behind closed doors when the law was lockdown — that it merits a full and proper look. i can confirm that the met is now investigating a number of events that took place

welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... inside china's covid battleground — a city of more than1 million is under lockdown after three reported cases under the government's zero—covid strategy. that's a strategy that includes things like this — pop—up tents where you can get a booster on the way home and win prizes as well. but it also includes very, very harsh measures that can be imposed on a city in a matter of hours. as the us hits the highest number of daily infections ever recorded anywhere in the world, president biden urges people to get vaccinated. this continues to be a pandemic of the unvaccinated, so we got to make more progress. prince andrew's lawyers argue for the first time in court that the sexual assault civil lawsuit against him should be thrown out. they say he can't be sued because of an agreement signed by his accuser, virginia giuffre. despite strict covid rules, novak djokovic will be allowed to defend his australian open title without being vaccinated. and the end of an era — a tribute to

welcome to newsday reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. prime minister boris johnson faces mounting pressure from his own mp's — over doubts about his leadership. amid claims he misled parliament, borisjohnson denies he was warned about a party at downing street that broke lockdown rules. nobody told me that what we were doing was, as you say, against the rules, that the event in question was something, we were going to do something that wasn't a work event. the us secretary of state is on his way to kyiv — as america warns russia could attack ukraine "at any point". two major us telecoms providers delay the rollout of new five g networks near airports — after warnings it could cause chaos in the aviation industry. and betting big on gaming — microsoft is buying the company that makes call of duty and candy crush for almost $70 billion. it's eight in the morning here in singapore, midnight in london, where borisjohnson�*s reported to be on the brink of a leadership challenge — with more mps said to be submitting letters of no�

it's newsday. hello and thanks for joining us: the reigning australian open champion novak djokovic faces deportation from australia after flying in to melbourne to defend his australian open tennis title. the world number one — who has never declared his vaccination status — was granted a medical exemption to play. he's now in a government detention hotel — considering a challenge to his visa being revoked. within the past hour the australian prime minister, scott morrison, told a news conference that novak djokovic had not been singled out for scrutiny. mark lobel has the latest. the tennis world number one hours after arriving in melbourne, expecting to defend his australian open title after stating he was exempted from vaccination rules. but at the airport, federal authorities noticed a mistake with his application and he was quizzed there for over seven hours. the result for the tennis star, this time, was not what he wanted. , , ., ~ wanted. on the issue of mr djokovic. — wanted. on t

it's newsday. hello, and welcome to the programme. the 0micron variant of coronavirus is spreading in the united states, the number of new covid infections and the number of hospital admissions have reached an all—time high. in europe, the world health organization said it expects more than half the people there will be infected in the next 6—8 weeks — with france, italy, and turkey reporting new pandemic highs. if we take a closer look at the us, we'll see cases there have soared over the past few weeks to an average of 737,000 per day. the number of americans in hospital with covid is over 142,000 — it's never been higher, and it's increased 83% in the last two weeks. the us chief medical adviser, anthony fauci, has been giving evidence to a congressional commitee on the current state of play. here's his repsonse to a question on the importance of vaccinations. if you look at vaccinated versus unvaccinated, there's about a ten times greater chance that you to be infected if you were unvaccinated, about a 17 times greater cha

it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and ”pm in london where borisjohnson has been addressing his mps in a private meeting, trying to fend off more calls for him to step down. it comes after he again apologised to parliament, following a report by a senior civil servant into downing street parties during lockdowns. though limited in scope due to an ongoing police inquiry, the report was nevertheless greeted with anger by many mps including those in his own party. police say they are reviewing more than 300 photos passed to officers in relation to 12 events across government on eight different dates. our political editor laura kuenssberg reports on the day's events. it has been a long, uncomfortable wait for number ten — an official verdict into the government itself breaking the rules. part one, at least, has now arrived. will you take responsibility, prime minister? there may be no easy downing street escape. the blond head and red box you can spot from the sky arriving for a moment borisjohns

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines... as the diplomatic standoff continues — we report from the frontline in eastern ukraine, where government forces, have been fighting russian backed separatists. this is about more than the future of ukraine. it's about the future shape of nato, about the security of europe. battle lines are being drawn now in a new cold war. north korea is thought to have tested one of its most powerful ballistic missiles in years — the us urges pyongyang to join direct talks without preconditions. manchester united footballer mason greenwood has been arrested on suspicion of rape and assault following allegations on social media. spotify responds to protests by some music stars and others — by announcing it will act to combat covid disinformation. and, he's done it. rafa nadal wins a record 21st grand slam — with victory at the australian open. hello and thanks forjoining us. nato�*s secretary general has issued a stark warning to president putin over the increasingly tense stand—off on th

it's newsday. it's 7am in the morning in singapore and ”pm in london, where the prime minister's office has admitted that staff at downing street gathered to wish borisjohnson a happy birthday during the first pandemic lockdown injune 2020. it's the latest in a string of revelations about parties held there or in other government departments during coronavirus restrictions. a spokesperson for mrjohnson said he'd been at the gathering for less than ten minutes. mrjohnson is facing widespread public outrage and calls to resign, including from some within his own conservative party. with the latest on the prime minister's troubles, here's our political editor laura kuenssberg. what politicians want to talk about is not always the same as what the public and their fellow politicians want to know. how many times do you have to jab? "jabs, jabs, jabs," boris johnson's mantra. but this morning, was he sure there would be no other damaging claims about what went on in number 10 before the official report

it's newsday. it's eight in the morning in singapore and seven in the evening in washington, where politicians from both the main parties have been marking the one year since the invasion of the us capitol in very different ways. president biden says the rioters held a dagger to the throat of american democracy, and accused them of acting after donald trump spun a web of lies. but mr trump has repeated his discredited claims that the election victory was stolen from him, and says mr biden is using his name to try to divide america. we begin our coverage with this report from our north america correspondent, aleem maqbool. you'll never take back our country with weakness. you have to show strength. these still staggering scenes were a last—ditch attempt to overturn the election loss of donald trump. fight for trump! his supporters marched the short distance from a rally he'd been holding to the capitol building, where congress was insertion to confirm joe biden�*s win. —— in session. a prote

it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 10am in melbourne where all eyes are on serbian tennis star novak djokovic. he's back in training after a court overturned the australian government's decision to revoke his visa. but his presence at the australian open is not certain yet. the country's immigration minister is still considering whether to use his personal powers to deport djokovic. shaimaa khalil reports on the latest dramatic developments. 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 anyone, everyone - in the serbian commun

it's newsday. hello and thanks forjoining us. russia has suggested it may be open to holding further talks with the united states as part of attempts to de—escalate the crisis in ukraine. the kremlin described some of washington's proposals as a starting point for a "serious conversation" — but it warned its main security concerns had not been properly addressed. key to what russia will do next is vladimir putin. is he trying to stop the eastward expansion of nato or has he already made up his mind to invade? here's our moscow correspondent, steve rosenberg. the world is still puzzling to piece together a picture of what vladimir putin is thinking. what he's planning... what are his intentions in ukraine and in europe? russian muscle flexing... ..is one piece of the geopoliticaljigsaw. military exercises and 100,000 russian troops near ukraine's border are fuelling fears of a russian invasion. so are moscow's demands. we just ask our partners in nato countries — get out. get out from our borders. get out from post—soviet

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: president biden has launched his most strident attack yet on his predecessor, donald trump, accusing him of provoking the storming of the us congress with a web of lies. russian soldiers arrive in kazakhstan to help crush anti—government protests, reports say security forces have taken control of central almaty. serbia's president says he will fight for "justice and truth" for novak djokovic, as the country's most famous sports star faces a weekend in an australian detention centre. the tennis player's accused of not having an exemption to the nation's covid vaccination rules. shaima khalil has the latest. the world number one arriving in melbourne, ready to defend his australian open title, only to be told he's no longer welcome. after hours of being held at the city's airport, the border authorities said his visa had to be revoked because of a mistake, and novak djokovic was taken to a quarantine hotel. he came to australia with an

it's newsday.

it's newsday. hello and thanks forjoining us. the reigning australian open champion, novak djokovic, faces being deported from australia after an issue with his visa. the player arrived in melbourne, where he is due to compete in the australian open, but was denied entry after being quizzed by border officials about his visa. his exemption by tournament officials from covid vaccination rules had prompted outrage among some australians. his lawyers said they would challenge the decision by the australian border force. mark lobel has the latest. the tennis men's world number one was defending his title before —— after being in fit. federal authorities noticed a mistake with his application. the serbian tennis star was quizzed in the room at melbourne airport for more than seven hours while his visa and exemption status was being investigated. he is now facing the prospect of boarding a plane and leaving australia. mr plane and leaving australia. m djokovic failed to provide appropriate evidence to meet the entry requirements to

this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines. aid efforts for tonga have been gathering pace following saturday's massive volcanic eruption and tsunami. borisjohnson�*s former adviser dominic cummings says he was warned about a downing street party at the height of lockdown. number ten denies the allegations. novak djokovic has arrived in serbia after being deported from australia. he'd been hoping to defend his australian open title, but was denied a visa because he's not had a covid vaccine. from belgrade, our sports editor dan roan sent this report. he had hoped to return to his hometown is the first man to win 21 grand slams. instead, another djokovic limited of belgrade airport having been thrown out of australia following a bruising legal to feed that in the 12 days of drama over his unvaccinated status. reflecting his standing here, the row number one slipped out of the diplomatic exit of avoiding of the small crowd of loyal fans furious about his deportation down under. i about his deportation down under. ~ , about his

it's newsday. it's 7am in singapore, and 6pm in washington — where the number of new covid infections and the number of hospital admissions have reached an all—time high. in europe, the world health organization says there's a new tidal wave of omicron sweeping the continent from west to east — with france, italy, and turkey reporting new pandemic highs. more on that in a moment. if we take a closer look at the us, we'll see cases there have soared over the past few weeks — to an average of 737,000 per day. the number of americans in hospital with covid is over 142,000. it's never been higher, and it's increased 83% in the last two weeks. 0ur washington correspondent barbara plett has more. with 0micron reaching across the country, the government's response to the resurgent pandemic is coming under a harsh spotlight. we will now introduce today's witnesses. .. at a hearing on capitol hill, senators grilled health officials about delays, failures, and confusion. top of the list was the short

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

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: police launch an investigation into whether downing street parties broke covid rules. president biden says he would consider imposing sanctions on president putin directly if russia invades ukraine. the president of cameroon has ordered an investigation into the crush that killed eight people outside a stadium in the capital on monday. the crush happened when supporters tried to force their way into the stadium before the africa cup of nations match between host nation cameroon and comoros. more than 30 people were injured. piers edwards reports. it was half an hour before kick—off of cameroon�*s first knockout match of the africa cup of nations against comoros that this tragedy unfolded. for some reason only one gate, the main entrance, was open. people trying to break down the barriers that the security personnel had established. whenever there was a possibility, people ran to wherever there was an opening in the gate. we met a s

this is newsday on the bbc. our headlines: novak djokovic is back in traininig after a court overturned his visa cancellation but australia's immigration minister could still decide to deport him. claims of another lockdown party at downing street — borisjohnson refuses to answer whether he attended drinks with dozens of his staff. investigators in new york are investigating the apartment fire, and deaths have been resigned — just revised from 17 and he says resigned — just revised from 17 and he says that resigned — just revised from 17 and he says that an resigned — just revised from 17 and he says that an open resigned — just revised from 17 and he says that an open door may have allowed that smoke to spread more quickly. let's turn to kazakhstan now, where the president has described the protests last week in which dozens are reported to have died as an attempted coup. troops from russia are currently in the country to restore order and president putin said kazakhstan had been targeted by interna

this is newsday on the bbc. 0ur headlines. buckingham palace is prince andrew has returned his royal patronage to the queen and will no longer use the title his royal highness. bring security service issues a rare warning. trying to influence the countries laws. the uk prime minister's — political future — hangs in the balance, as a growing number of conservative mps call for him to resign, despite his apology in the house of commons yesterday. it's after borisjohnson admitted attending a party in the downing street garden during the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020. 0ur political correspondent alex forsyth reports. 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 t

this is newsday on the bbc. i'm karishma vaswani in singapore. 0ur headlines: the us once again has broken the world record for daily covid cases — and, record numbers are in hospital with covid too. the british prime minister borisjohnson is under growing pressure over a downing street drinks party when large gatherings were banned. president biden has begun the new year pushing for voting rights, calling this a defining moment for us democracy. he was in georgia today, calling on the us senate to create national rules to stop what democrats have described as voter suppresion by republican states. democrats are calling for congress to restore civil rights act era federal oversight of election rules, to be applied to states with the most diverse populations. these would require federal approval for congressional boundaries, to stop alleged gerrymandering by ethnicity. they would also clamp down on measures like state voter id. but they are at present blocked from legislating by senate filibuster rules, which r

you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: record breaking rafa, the spaniard wins his 21st grand slam title with victory at the australian open. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment — the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacul

this is newsday on the bbc. our headlines britain's prime minister is battling for his future, facing calls to resign, because of parties at downing street during lockdown president biden has warned vladimir putin that the us will do significant harm to russia if he decides to invade ukraine. the united nations says, it is stepping up its response to the volcanic eruption and tsunami in tonga. a thick coat of ash has been removed from the main airport runway in tonga, clearing the way for emergency aid to be delivered by air to the island nation. the tongan government has released more pictures — they say, many houses on the islands, have been destroyed. our correspondent, howard johnson sent us this update. today, we heard from the foreign ministry that said this us cable company were looking at the severed internet cable beneath the sea. they said it would take at least four weeks for that cable to be repaired and that is what is causing all of these delays with communications, the internet is obviously stil

newsday is coming up several years now. newsday is coming up at 11pm after sport, and i will be back at 11:30pm. good evening. this is your update from the bbc sport centre. we'll start with the football first, and manchester united lost theirfirst game under ralf rangnick. they were beaten at old trafford, too, by wolves, who left it late to score the winner and survived a late fightback by the skin of their teeth. joe lynskey reports. at manchester united, the new year felt like old times. for the first time since 2008, cristiano ronaldo was captain. and for the first time in two years, here was philjones. the former england defender�*s last first—team match was in january 2020. his job was to keep out wolves, who last won at old trafford in 1980. but here they sensed a chance... that's one of the saves of the season. david de gea was at full stretch to stop a wolves opener. united's aim this year is to climb back up the table. but even with a new coach, they're still out of sorts. bruno fernandes missed a chance you'

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines: russia readies for possible conflict over ukraine but says there is room forfurther dialogue with the west. vaccine maker moderna says an omicron—specific shot is on the horizon, but can drug makers really keep pace with new variants? two weeks after an undersea volcanic eruption devastated tonga, we hear from the captain of the royal navy ship that delivered aid to the island. and to mark holocaust memorial day, prince charles unveils portraits of seven holocaust survivors. the paintings will go on display in buckingham palace. live from austria in singapore. —— l studio in singapore. this is bbc news. it's newsday. —— our studio in singapore. hello and thanks forjoining us. russia has suggested it may be open to holding further talks with the united states as part of attempts to de—escalate the crisis in ukraine. the kremlin described some of washington's proposals as a starting point for a "serious conversation" but it warned its main security concerns ha