in the first instance we will house. in the first instance we will obviously raise it in parliament to get answers to these pressing questions. this is likely to be raised tomorrow in parliament by labour. there will also be a meeting that committee tomorrow to discuss if they will make public the information they have from the government. what looks as though it is a technical wrangle may now be an almighty political i’ow. may now be an almighty political row. thank you. indonesian authorities have urged nearly 100,000 people living near a volcano on the island of bali to move to safety. this is after fears that an explosion is imminent. cons of thick smoke have billowed from the mountain in the last week. the main airport on the island has remained closed leaving thousands of people stranded. time for a look at the weather now. hello, it's been a bit milder today, but it will get colder

over the next few days. the rain and thicker cloud that we've had today is moving further south, clearer skies following. some showers coming in on a strengthening north—westerly wind, especially for northern ireland, wales and the south—west, and wintry showers across the northern half of scotland. tonight will be colder than last night. not too cold just yet. patchy frost in the north and perhaps icy patches near those showers in northern scotland. those who continue to be wintry through the day. a fair number of showers coming into northern ireland, west wales and the west of england, and showers near the coast in north—east england will move and get blown down towards the midlands and east anglia in the afternoon. that's a change as the day goes on. it will feel colder especially in the wind. those temperatures a bit lower than they were today. more of a colder start more widely on wednesday but fewer showers are towards the west, more showers down these eastern hello, this is bbc news. the headlines at 8:30pm: prince harry and actress

meghan markle have announced their engagement. in an interview with the bbc, the couple spoke of how they knew from early on that they would commit to each other. all the stars were aligned, everything was perfect. this woman fell in to my life, i fell into her life and the fact she'll be really good at the job part of it as well. the engagement ring designed by the prince contains diamonds that belonged to his mother. the queen and duke of edinburgh and prince charles said they were ‘delighted' by the news. two pharmaceutical firms have said they'll invest more than a billion pounds in the uk, creating nearly 2000 jobs. and a volcano warning — 100,000 people in bali have been ordered to leave the area, as officials fear a major eruption. the list of the 12 nominees for the bbc‘s 2017 sports personality

of the year has been released. they include chris froome and anthonyjoshua. last year's award was won by tennis star, andy murray. we're going to stay now with that news that prince harry is to marry his girlfriend, the american actress megan markle, next spring. the couple — who will live at kensington palace — became engaged in london earlier this month. the queen and the duke of edinburgh said they were ‘delighted'. this afternoon, prince harry and meghan markle gave an interview to the bbc‘s mishal husain. prince harry spoke of being ‘beautifully surprised' as he got to know ms markle, and the couple confirmed they had first met on a blind date set up by a friend. ms markle said since then, they had never spent more than a few weeks apart, and that they simply enjoyed being together. over the next 20 minutes we're going to show you that extended interview, starting with the couple's thoughts on the moment prince harry proposed. it happened a few weeks ago,

earlier this month, here at our cottage. just a standard, typical night for us. just a cosy night. what were we doing? just roasting chicken. trying to roast a chicken. and it was just an amazing surprise. it was so sweet, and natural, and very romantic. he got on one knee. of course. was it an instant yes from you? yes! as a matter of fact, i could barely let you finish proposing. i said, "can i say yes now?" she didn't even let me finish. she said, "can i say yes?" and then there was hugs, and i had the ring on my finger, and i was like, "can i give you the ring?" and she was like, "oh, yes, the ring!" so it was a really nice moment. it was just the two of us, and i think i managed to catch her by surprise as well. and this is how long after you first met? it would be a year and a half, a little bit more than that. just about a year and a half. which, for most people, would be quite a whirlwind. is that how it's felt to you?

i don't think that i would call it a whirlwind in terms of our relationship. obviously, there have been layers attached to how public it has become, after we had a good five or six months withjust privacy, which was amazing. but, no, i think we were able to really have so much time just to connect, and we never went longer than two weeks without seeing each other, even though we were obviously doing a long distance relationship, so... we made it work. how did you first meet? er... yes, we first met. we were introduced, actually, by a mutual friend, who we will... we should protect her privacy. ..protect her privacy, yeah. a little too much of that. and, but, it was literally through her, and then we met once and then twice back—to—back, two dates, in london lastjuly, beginning ofjuly, and then it was i think about three, maybe four, weeks later that i managed to persuade her to come and join me in botswana, and we camped out with each other under the stars, and we spent...

she came and joined me for five days out there, which was absolutely fantastic. so, then we were really by ourselves, which was crucial, to me, to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other. your friend who introduced you — was she trying to set you up? yes, it was definitely a setup. it was a blind date. it was a blind date, for sure. and it's so interesting because we talk about it now, and even then, you know, because i'm from the states, you don't grow up with the same understanding of the royal family, and so, while i now understand very clearly there is a global interest there, i didn't know much about him, and so the only thing i had asked her when she said she wanted to set us up was one question — i said, is he nice? because if he wasn't kind, it didn't seem like it would make sense, so we went and met for a drink, and i think very quickly into that, we said, what are we doing tomorrow? we should meet again. what are you doing tomorrow,

let's meet again. and then it was like, right, diaries, we need to get the diaries out and find out how we are going to make this work, because i was off to africa for a month, she was working, and we just said, right, where's the gap? and the gap happened to be in the perfect place, so... so how much did you, prince harry, know about meghan? had you seen her on tv? no. i'd never even heard about her until this friend said "meghan markle". i was like, right, 0k, give me a bit of background, like, what's going on here? so i'd never watched suits, i'd never heard of meghan before, and i was beautifully surprised when i walked into that room and saw her, and there she was sitting there. i was like, ok, i'm going to have to really up my game here. sit down and make sure i've got good chat. i think for both of us it was really refreshing, because, given that i didn't know a lot about him, everything that

i've learned about him, i learned through him, as opposed to having grown up around different news stories or tabloids or whatever else. everything i learned about him and his family was what he would share with me, and vice versa, so for both of us it was just a really authentic and organic way to get to know each other. was that quite refreshing for you in the way that you'd been brought up, with a lot of people knowing a lot about you? 0r thinking they know. exactly. it was hugely refreshing, to be able to get to know someone who isn't necessarily within your circle, doesn't know much about me. i don't know much about her, so to be able to start almost afresh, right from the beginning, and getting to know each other step by step, and then taking that huge leap of only two dates and then going effectively on holiday together in the middle of nowhere, and sharing a tent together and all that kind of stuff, it was fantastic. it was absolutely amazing to get to know her as quickly as i did. and starting a long—distance relationship. you were working on suits. you had, i imagine, a packed filming schedule. you've got lots of commitments of your own. how hard was it to keep things going?

it was just a choice, right? i think that, very early on, when we realised we were going to commit to each other, we knew we had to invest the time and the energy and whatever it took to make that happen. so, yes, with the filming schedule, it was not the easiest, because of course it included a lot of travel back and forth, but... i don't think you've had any idea what time zone you've been on for the last year and a half. no, no. coming over here for days or weeks, and going back and straight into filming the next day, 4am wake—up calls on a monday, straight into set. right off the plane and straight to set, just coming back... and just trying to stay as close as possible, but on two different time zones, and five hours apart, does have its challenges, but we made it work, and now we're here, so... we're thrilled. in the case of your relationship, unlike for most people, there's this whole layer of what it means to get involved with someone from the royal family.

how much of a sense did you have, meghan, of the enormity of what you were getting into and what it might mean for your life? i think i can very safely say, as naive as it sounds now, having gone through this learning curve in the past year and a half, i did not have any understanding ofjust what it would be like. i don't think either of us did. we've both said that. even though we knew that it would be... i tried to warn you as much as possible, but i think both of us were totally surprised by the reaction after the first five or six months that we had to ourselves of what would actually happen from then, so you can have as many conversations as you want and try and prepare as much as possible, but we were totally unprepared for what happened after that. the scrutiny. well, all sorts. i think also because... it's a misconception that because i worked in the entertainment industry, that this would be something i would be familiar with. even though i'd been on my show for six years at that point, and working before that,

i've never been part of tabloid culture, never been in pop culture to that degree, and lived a relatively quiet life, even though i focused so much on myjob, so that was a really stark difference out of the gate, but... and i think we were just hit so hard at the beginning with a lot of mistruths that i made the choice to not read anything, positive or negative. itjust didn't make sense. instead, we focused all of our energiesjust on nurturing our relationship. 0n us, yeah. 0n us. and some of that scrutiny — and you ended up making a very public statement about it — some of that scrutiny was centred around your ethnicity, meghan. when you realised that, what did you think? of course it's disheartening, you know. it's a shame that that is the climate, in this world, to focus on that, or be discriminatory in that sense. but i think, at the end of the day, i'm reallyjust proud of who i am and where i come from, and we have never put

any focus on that. we've just focused on who we are as a couple, and so, when you take all those extra layers away, and all of that noise, i think it makes it really easy to just enjoy being together, and tune all the rest of that out. now that it is all official, prince harry, do you have that sense that the combination of the two of you and your different backgrounds, that you together represent something new for the royal family? i don't know if it's something new. for me, it's an added member of the family. it's another team player as part of the bigger team. for all of us, all we want to do is be able to carry out the right engagements, carry out our work, and try and encourage others and the younger generation to be able to see the world in the correct sense, rather than perhaps being a distorted view. so, you know, the fact that i fell in love with meghan so incredibly quickly was sort of confirmation to me that everything,

all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect. there was this beautiful woman who had literally tripped and fell into my life. i fell into her life. and the fact that she... i know the fact that she'll be really, unbelievably good at the job part of it as well is obviously a huge relief to me, because she will be able to deal with everything else that comes with it, but we are a fantastic team. we know we are. we hope to, over time, try and have as much impact for all the things we care about as much as possible. i'm very excited about that. and, meghan, given youracting and the profiles you'd had, you'd already been involved in various causes. you'd been an ambassador for the un. what about this new role? you're going to have a bigger platform, a bigger voice. what do you want to do with that? imean... sing! can you imagine? no. a singer. i think what's been really exciting as we talk about the transition

of this out of my career but into the role, is that, as you said, the causes that have been really important to me, | can focus more energy on, because very early out of the gate, i think you realise once you have access, or a voice that people are going to listen to, with that comes a lot of responsibility, which i take seriously. and at the same time i think, in these beginning few months, and now being boots on the ground in the uk, i'm excited tojust really get to know more about the different communities here, smaller organisations who are working on the same causes that i've always been passionate about under the same umbrella, and also being able to go round to the commonwealth. i think it'sjust the beginning of... there's a lot to do! there's a lot to do. and it's an immense change. you're getting a new country out of it. a husband, obviously. that sounds nice. it does. but also giving up your career. yes.

but i don't see it as giving anything up. i see it as a change. it's a new challenge. it's a new chapter, right? and also, keep in mind i've been working on my show for seven years, so we were very, very fortunate to be able to have that sort of longevity on a series, and for me, once we hit the 100 episode marker, i thought, you know what? i have ticked this box and i feel really proud of the work i've done there, and now it's time to, as i said, work as a team with you. do you have that sense of responsibility, prince harry, for what you are asking meghan to do? of course. that sense of responsibility was essentially from day one, or maybe a couple of months in, when i realised that actually this is... you know, i know that i'm in love with this girl, and i hope that she is in love with me, but we still had to sit down on the sofa, and i still had to have some pretty frank conversations with her to say, you know, what you're letting yourself in for, it is a big deal. and it's not, it's not easy for anybody. but i know that, at the end

of the day, she chooses me, and i choose her, and therefore whatever we have to tackle together, or individually, it will always be us together as a team, so i think she's capable... that's so nicely said, isn't it? she's capable of anything, and together, as i said, there's a hell of a of stuff and work that needs doing. at the moment, for us, it's going to be making sure that our relationship is always put first, but both of us have passions for wanting to make change, change for good, and with lots of young people running around the commonwealth, that's where we're going to spend most of our time. and it was really one of the first things we connected on. it was one of the first things we started talking about when we met, was just the different things that we wanted to do in the world, and how passionate we were about seeing change. that's what got date two! plenty to talk about.

children? not currently, no. of course, you know, one step at a time, and hopefully we'll start a family in the near future. you've met each other‘s families, i imagine? yes, his family has been so welcoming, and... you've met quite a few of them, actually. i have, on both sides. his mom's side as well, which has been really important to me too. but, yes, the family has been great, and over the past year and a half, we've just had a really nice time getting to know them, and progressively helping me feel a part of not just the institution but also part of the family, which has been really special. trying to track them down and make sure that they are around at the same time that she's popping in without telling too many people. we've actually done incredibly well to make sure that you've met all the key people. a lot of the time that you've been together in this last year and a half, you've been at home a lot. yes. we had to sort of reverse the whole

process, and cosy nights in an front of the television, cooking dinner with just the two of us by ourselves in our cottage, rather than going out for dinner and being seen in public, so we've reversed the whole process, which is... it has provided different opportunities, and it's made us a hell of a lot closer in a short space of time, without question, so if anybody else... maybe slow down on the dates, and spend more time at home. for us, it's an opportunity to really get to know each other without other people looking or trying to take photos on their phone and stuff. that comes with the job, comes with the role, but, where possible... and we were able to really get to know each other that way, but also then to go and have friends over for dinner, or go to his family for tea, or any of those sort of things. just to take the time to be able to go on long country walks, and just talk.

we've been all over the place. have you met the queen? i have, yes. a couple of times. what was that like? it's incredible. i think, to be able to meet her through his lens, notjust with his honour and respect for her as the monarch, but the love that he has for her as his grandmother, all of those layers have been so important for me, so that when i met her i had a deep understanding, and of course incredible respect for being able to have that time with her. she's an incredible woman. and the corgis took to you straightaway. i've spent the last 33 years being barked at, and this woman walks in, and absolutely nothing. just laying on my feet during tea. wagging tails... i wasjust like, oh. that has to be a good sign. speaking of dogs, have you brought yours to the uk? well, i have two dogs that i've had for quite a long time,

my rescue pups, and one is now staying with very close friends, and my other little guy, yes, he's in the uk. he's been here for a while. 0k. let's hope he adjusts well. yeah, i think he's doing just fine. what was it like introducing meghan to your father and your brother? um... what was it like? it was exciting. i mean, i'd been seeing her for a period of time when i literally didn't tell anybody at all, and then william was longing to meet her, and so was catherine, and being our neighbours, we managed to get that in quite a few times now, and catherine's been absolutely amazing. she's been wonderful. as has william as well. they've been fantastic support. and then my father as well, we've had a couple... no, more than that. a handful of teas and meetings and all sorts of gatherings over at his place as well, so the family together have been absolutely solid support, and my grandparents as well have been wonderful throughout this whole process, and have known for quite some time, so how they haven't told anybody is, again, a miracle in itself.

the whole family have come together and have been a huge amount of support. they've been amazing. and, meghan, your parents? do you think, you know, while very happy for you, obviously, are they worried at all about the scale of what you're getting into? i'm sure in the onset, both my parents and my close friends were concerned, because we got very quickly swept up in a media storm that was not part of my life before that. but they also had never seen me so happy, and i think also once my friends were able to really meet harry, and my mom, who we spend a lot of time with, who is so much fun. your mum's amazing. it was just obvious that no matter what we were being put through, that it was just temporary, and that we were going to be able to get through that, so everyone was really happy. he's talked to my dad a few times. he hasn't been able to meet him just

yet, but it's all been worth every effort. and your ring? tell us about your ring. the ring is obviously yellow gold, because that's her favourite, and the main stone itself i sourced from botswana, and the little diamonds either side are from my mother's jewellery collection, to make sure that she is with us on this crazy journey together. it's beautiful. and he designed it. it's incredible. yeah. make sure it stays on that finger! of course. what does it mean to you, meghan, to have those stones on your finger that once belonged to princess diana ? i think everything about harry's thoughtfulness and the inclusion of that, and obviously not being able to meet his mom, it's so important to me to know that she's a part of this with us, and i think in being

able to meet his aunts, and also people like julia, and just different people who were so important to his mom, and able to in some way know part of her through them, and of course through him. it's incredibly special to be able to have this, which sort of links where you come from, and botswana, which is important to us. it's perfect. what do you think your mother would have thought of meghan, or said about meghan? they'd be thick as thieves, without question. i mean, she would be over the moon, jumping up and down, so excited for me, but then, would probably have been best friends with meghan, so it is days like today when i really miss having her around and being able to share the happy news, but with the ring and everything else that's going on, i'm sure she's with us, you know, jumping up and down somewhere else. prince harry, meghan markle,

thank you both very much. thank you so much. thank you. i'm nowjoined in the studio by the author and telegraph columnist sophia money—coutts. the couple met through mutual friends in london injuly 2016, when one of ms markle's close friends, reportedly introduced her to the prince. in november, the couple's relationship became official when prince harry issued a lengthy appeal to the media on behalf of his girlfriend, condemning the "wave of abuse and harassment" the actress had been subjected to. after spending new year together, they reportedly go on their first holiday to norway to see the northern lights. following a three week holiday to africa in august, the couple made their first public appearance in september at the invictus games, the international sporting event set up by harry for injured soldiers. and earlier today they announced that harry had proposed earlier this month with a wedding to take place in the spring. i'm nowjoined in the studio

by the author and telegraph columnist sophia money—coutts. there's a lot to talk about, what strikes me is how different this interview was to ones we saw in the past with royal engagements, it was more relaxed and informal. absolutely, i wouldn't say totally informal but what struck me was how articulate she was and relaxed, sat with him and all of the jokes. giggling among themselves, it was very sweet, i think. it gave us the sense of their relationship. and how close it has been in a relatively short space of time. she's done humanitarian work in the past, it is obviously something between them which they bonded over, really. is it possible for her to do that?|j think

it possible for her to do that?” think so, it's a massive undertaking, marrying into the royal family, and! undertaking, marrying into the royal family, and i would imagine that she is going to have to take a step back from acting, that may potentially have to go. presumably she will concentrate on her humanitarian work full—time and as she said in that interview, that was one of the first things they talked about and bonded over. i think that she will obviously do a lot more of that. we have to talk about the wedding, we do not have the details yet, it won't quite be the same as prince william's wedding, he is not the heir to the throne, will it be more relaxed? we don't know more yet -- any more yet, but tomorrow we may have details released. it may be in london or a quieterjob at windsor castle, we a re london or a quieterjob at windsor castle, we are not getting a day off... no bank holiday! what do you think meghan markle brings to the

royalfamily, think meghan markle brings to the royal family, they have think meghan markle brings to the royalfamily, they have modernised since the days that lady diana came onto the scene but is it a step in the right direction? yuji, they have modernised a lot in the last 20 yea rs modernised a lot in the last 20 years —— absolutely. but i think it isa years —— absolutely. but i think it is a significant step, there have been grumblings on twitter today about marrying a divorcee and an american, but the fact that the overwhelming sense is happiness and j°y overwhelming sense is happiness and joy at this couple, i think it indicates that it is a very happy thing and old stick in the mud may have relaxed about it and it is going ahead. it's a massive cause for celebration. womack prince harry has said that he has matured over the years. the invictus games, in a way, he has completely changed his image. back to those vegas photos,

and to think of now, talking proudly about his future wife and the work to do, and you get the sense that he loves that, the invictus games and his charity work, that is his thing and with meghan by his side, they will be doing a lot of that. it's a com plete will be doing a lot of that. it's a complete change. the stag do maybe a carry on! i would imagine... complete change. the stag do maybe a carry on! iwould imagine... but yes, he's grown up. and they will be afun yes, he's grown up. and they will be a fun auntie and uncle to the little children. imagine if you were george and charlotte, how fun they would be as an aunt and uncle. sandringham would be a laugh in future years. thank you very much for speaking to us thank you very much for speaking to us today. now it's time for a look at the weather. thanks very much, cold weather. thanks very much, cold weather is on the way, back into the

uk, we had temperatures in the south with double figures that came with a rain, moving away into the near continent. clear skies followed, coming into northern ireland and wales, and the south—westward wintry showers in northern scotland. a cold night, not as cold as it will be over the next few nights, frost and icy patches with showers in northern scotland. some showers through the day, driving in on cold winds, south—west england, initially showers along the coast, they are blown inland and pushed to the midlands, across east anglia, if you don't get showers you will get the cold. lower temperatures tomorrow, feeling chilly in the wind. the strongest winds on wednesday down the eastern side of england, this is where there are the bulk of the showers and more cloud. sunshine elsewhere, wintry showers in northern scotland but fewer showers for northern ireland, and to the western side of wales and south—west

england. temperatures of li—7d, probably even colder on thursday. i'm ros atkins what welcome to outside sources to pay royal wedding in the spring. meghan markle and prince harry have announced their engagement. i could barely let you finish proposing. then there were hugs and i had the ring on my finger andi hugs and i had the ring on my finger and i said, can i give you the ring? in indonesia mount agung threatens thousands. we report on the overfishing and pollution of africa's biggest freshwater lake. and the pope has arrived in myanmar.