this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7.00 — prince andrew speaks publicly for the first time about his friendship with the convicted sex offender jeffrey epstein. in an exclusive interview with bbc newsnight, the duke says he was wrong to stay at epstein‘s house, and admits he "let the side down". i admit fully that myjudgment was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable, but that's just the way it is. prince andrew said he had "no recollection" of meeting one of epstein‘s chief accusers, virginia roberts. miss roberts claims she was forced to have sex with the duke when she was 17

after being groomed by epstein. prince andrew denies any inappropriate conduct. the education secretary orders universities to review fire safety in all their buildings after 200 firefighters spent more than nine hours tackling a fire at a student hall in bolton. jeremy corbyn has led a meeting of senior labour figures to decide the pa rty‘s manifesto, promising a vision for a "better britain for everyone". competing on green issues — the conservatives say they will plant 30 million trees a year by 2025, but the lib dems say they can plant twice as many.

good evening. prince andrew has told the bbc he categorically denies having sexual relations with virginia roberts, who says she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17 years old. in an interview with bbc‘s newsnight, he's answered questions for the first time about his links with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. the duke of york said a "sense of honour" led him to continue his assocation with the disgraced financier. 0ur royal correspondent nick witchell reports. the year is 2010. prince andrew is in new york. he is videoed staying at the mansion of a convicted child sex offender called jeffrey epstein, who'd just been released from an 18—month prison sentence. andrew's presence gives rise to questions, put to him by bbc newsnight‘s emily maitlis. you were staying at the house... yes. of a convicted sex offender.

it was a convenient place to stay. i mean, i've gone through this in my mind so many times. at the end of the day, with the benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do but, at the time, i felt it was the honourable and right thing to do. and i admit fully that myjudgment was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable, but that's just the way it is. and then there's andrew's alleged contact with the then 17—year—old virginia roberts, who was on epstein‘s payroll. she has alleged that andrew seduced her. that is something, andrew says in the interview, that never happened. she says she met you in 2001. she says she dined with you, danced with you at tramp nightclub in london, she went on to have sex

with you in a house in belgravia belonging to ghislaine maxwell, your friend. your response? i have no recollection of ever meeting this lady, none whatsoever. you don't remember meeting her? no. it was in 2001, according to virginia roberts, that she had sex with andrew on three occasions, including one orgy. the palace has denied that. in 2008, epstein was convicted of procuring for prostitution a girl under the age of 18. he was sentenced to 18 months in prison. it was in 2010, after epstein had been released from prison, that andrew visited him in new york and stayed at his mansion. i stayed with him, and that's 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 a royal family, and we try and uphold the highest standards and practices,

and i let the side down, simple as that. but nothing about this story is simple. jeffrey epstein can't answer questions. he took his own life in august. as for andrew, lawyers for virginia roberts want him to make a statement under oath. the us authorities would most certainly like to hear his account of everything he witnessed. nicholas witchell, bbc news. and you can see the full interview in a bbc newsnight special on bbc two and here on the news channel tonight at 9.00, and also on the iplayer. joining me now is our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. the full interview being aired at 9.00, a lot of questions, what can you tell us about how this interview was secured, first of all? it is

evident that newsnight has been in discussion with andrew's private office for some months. in a limitless set of six months of this has been in the making. —— emily maitlis. initially, andrew's of us would have been keen for him to talk about his work, but it was quite clear that no interview could go ahead without touching on these issues which have been so much in the news in recent months. it is clear that it was andrew's determination, together with his private secretary, to go ahead and do this. i think they have been in the driving seat, they are the people who have felt this is a gamble that was worth taking. i am not so sure that the mainstream, if you like, at buckingham palace communications experts, have really been involved in this, and i am not at all sure that they would have advice for him to go ahead with it. but there it is, he has decided he wa nts to but there it is, he has decided he wants to get his story out there. it is, asi wants to get his story out there. it is, as i say, a high—risk gamble. he will be hoping that he gains credit for subjecting himself to the best

pa rt for subjecting himself to the best part ofan for subjecting himself to the best part of an hour, and for subjecting himself to the best part ofan hour, and has for subjecting himself to the best part of an hour, and has emily maitlis has said, there were no restrictions on what she could ask, andi restrictions on what she could ask, and i think is we've seen already from the clips that have already been issued, she asks some very tough questions. and he hasn't flinched, he has, whatever we think of what he has said, he has sat there, to commit, and come up with what he must consider to be the best and most plausible answers. many people are saying it is a very strange time for him to start speaking about this, because often, a lot of these stories simply go away, don't they over time? there is no precise explanation, no even in precise explanation as to why he felt this was the moment he wanted to do it. i can only think that he wa nts to to do it. i can only think that he wants to draw a line, this was an opportunity, he is coming up to his 60th birthday, he has got his other daughter's wedding next year. i think you perhaps felt this was something that has been hanging over

him, that he wants to take the risk of going out and putting his side of the case, and hoping that people will find his answers to be credible and plausible. certainly in relation to virginia roberts, the one area where, as we have seen already, he owns up rather to letting the side down, that is the relation to his decision to go and stay withjeffrey epstein after he had been released from prison. that is no mitigation for that fact, the is accepted that asa for that fact, the is accepted that as a misjudgment. is the strength of the pair the reputation of himself, but also the wider royal household? what is at stake? —— is this trying to repair the reputation? that is an application for the rest of the royal household, this is an affair centred squarely on him. i am sure there is considerable dismay within there is considerable dismay within the royal family at the way in which this is played out. there must be disappointment at his lack of judgment. i am sure there will be

members of the family who, frankly, must be aghast at the fact he went back afterjeffrey epstein‘s conviction and still stayed with him. andrew has already said he went back because he wanted to break off the friendship. well, it is curious. he said it was a matter of convenience to go and stay with him. there are hotels in new york, yet he stayed at this man's house for three 01’ stayed at this man's house for three orfour nights, stayed at this man's house for three or four nights, and stayed at this man's house for three orfour nights, and that is a stayed at this man's house for three or four nights, and that is a rather extraordinary decision, and of course, andrew has said he did this because he is so honourable. by that, i suppose he means that he feels a loyalty towards this man had been a friend for a number of years. but i think that most people would think that honour and loyalty to a man who has been convicted of the crimes he was convicted of really should not arise. 0k, crimes he was convicted of really should notarise. 0k, nicholas, thank you very much indeed.

the full interview airing tonight at 9.00 on bbc two, here on the news channel, and also on the iplayer. the labour party has reached a "unanimous agreement" over the contents of its manifesto and will publish it next week. labour has already announced a number of policies, including a pa rt—nationalisation of bt to make broadband free for everyone, and extra spending on infrastructure. jeremy corbyn said the document will "change the lives of the people "of the country for the better". 0ur political correspondent iain watson joins us now. unanimous agreement reached in the rooms behind you, iain? that is partly how this system works here, effectively you get a huge document, perhaps 130 pages, and some people

have individual disagreements with it, but they are very reluctant to throw the whole thing out. certainly during an election campaign, they are keen to show some kind of unity. when ajeremy are keen to show some kind of unity. when a jeremy corbyn emerged from this building just about an hour ago, he said the document would be very radical and would have the capacity, if implemented, to transform britain. we've just had a very extensive meeting of our party's national executive, shadow cabinet, and other people as well, and we have reached a unanimous agreement on the contents of our manifesto, which will be published next week. that manifesto is a transformative document that will change the lives of the people of this country for the better. it will be a once in a generation opportunity to vote for a more egalitarian society that cares for all, and i'm very, very proud of the contents of it, and i can't wait to take those contents and its promise of a better britain to everyone all around this country during our election campaign. thank you very much indeed.

unanimous agreement for the ma nifesto unanimous agreement for the manifesto does not mean to say there are not arguments on here during six hours of debate amongst the leading figures in the labour movement. i will just figures in the labour movement. i willjust run you through a few of them. one was over the issue of freedom of movement. the party's grassroots at its conference voted to extend freedom of movement for workers to and from the european union. that is something which some people felt might not play very well with voters who are concerned about immigration. so as far as i'm aware, what they have decided to do it so that if the uk stays within the european union, then continued freedom of movement would be met with new, stronger regulation of the employment market so that people would not be undercut by migrant labour. it is also an argument over another commitment from the party conference for a net zero carbon emissions by 2030. one of the big

unions, the gmb, not happy with that, they did not think it would be realistic. it has been a bit of a fudge on that, it does not become a fixed deadline, and talk about eliminating the majority of carbon emissions by 2030. new policy is emerging as well, help for older women worried about an increase in the state pension age, and i am also told there will be a new retail offer to give people notjust free prescriptions in england, but free dental checks as well. some of those specific details we will get when the manifesto is launched, which looks like being next thursday. thank you very much indeed, iain watson. the snp leader nicola sturgeon has called on the scottish people to deny boris johnson the "majority he craves". speaking on the campaign trail

on the east coast of scotland, she said that evidence suggests that brexit will hit the north east of scotland, harder than anywhere else. 0ur news correspondent, alexandra mackenzie, sent this update. nicola sturgeon has been out campaigning across the north—east of scotland. she was here in arbroath, the home of the arbroath smokie. her main message today has been about brexit. scotland voted to remain within the european union and nicola sturgeon has said today a vote for the snp is a vote against borisjohnson‘s hard brexit. in her words, a vote for the snp is a vote to stop scotland being taken out of the european union against its will. there are 13 tory mps across scotland and nicola sturgeon has said that the snp is the main challenger in all of those seats. she has said that this election is probably the most important in her lifetime. nicola sturgeon has also said, again, she would like an independence referendum in 2020. she said that scotland would be better if the power

was within the hands of the scottish people. now, we are here in arbroath. this is where the declaration of scottish independence was signed in 1320. so possibly no coincidence that nicola sturgeon was here earlier today. elsewhere, the conservatives and the liberal democrats are both promising to plant millions of trees to tackle climate change if they win the election. liberal democrat leader, jo swinson, says the party would plant 60 million trees every year across the uk by 2025, while the tories are pledging to plant 30 million. an investigation is underway into the cause of a fire at a block of student flats in bolton. witnesses say the blaze spread quickly to the upper floors, prompting concerns about the cladding on the block. two people were injured. from bolton, 0livia

richwald reports. these videos posted on social media show an intense fire which spread rapidly, sending chunks of burning cladding and sparks to the ground. at first, some of the students ignored the alarms. there is a girl who came running and was banging on doors and she just started screaming saying, "there is a fire, "get out of here right now". we were running down the stairs, and it was getting higher and higher. the cladding on this building is not the same as that which has been blamed for exacerbating the fire at grenfell tower in 2017, which killed 72 people. the students had been reassured it was safe. but videos posted on social media has raised alarm bells. this is not a grenfell scenario, it is a different type of material. it is a material that is combustible.

as we have seen from the footage, once it takes hold with a fire, it has the potential to impinge on the evacuation of the occupants. this afternoon, the prime minister visited a shelter to meet affected students, and then to the scene, where he met firefighters. the university of bolton says it is finding new accommodation for its students and offering them support. all of my belongings, they are all gone. and how are you feeling? traumatised. tonight, there is a warning from the fire brigade's union. they described the videos as alarming, and say urgent action is needed. the headlines on bbc news — the duke of york says he "let the side down" by staying at the home of convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein in new york. the education secretary orders universities to review fire safety

in all their buildings after a blaze rips through a student hall in bolton. jeremy corbyn has led a meeting of senior labour and trade union figures to decide which policies will go in the party's manifesto. competing on green policies — the conservatives say they will plant 30 million trees a year by 2025, but the lib dems say they can plant twice as many. michelle 0'neill has been re—elected as sinn fein‘s vice—president, seeing off a challenge from the former stormont education ministerjohn 0'dowd. the vote took place at the party's annual conference in londonderry. michelle 0'neill will continue in the position which, in effect, means she is leader of sinn fein in northern ireland. she said the contest had been conducted in a "comradely way".

there've been skirmishes in paris between police and yellow vest protesters, a year on from the first of the movement's weekly demonstrations. demonstrators threw projectiles at riot police, who responded with tear gas. they first took to the streets to protest against president macron‘s fuel tax hike, but the movement went on to challenge his wider reforms, even demanding his resignation. hugh schofield has sent this report. one year on, not the champs—elysees this time, but the place d'italie in the east of the city, and the rioters are out again. maybe they are only a minority among the yellow vest protesters, but they are certainly setting the tone. this was supposed to be the starting point for a peaceful march for gilets jaunes through the centre of paris. instead, we have burning barricades, clouds of tear gas, projectiles being thrown at police. scenes very reminiscent of this time last year.

earlier, a group of protesters tried to block off the paris ring road. noticeably, many of them are no longer wearing what was their uniform, the high visibility vest, that is because they say it makes them identifiable, more easily arrested. they'd come, they said, to march. instead, they have been bottled in by riot police and stifled. translation: their one goal is quite simply to break up the demonstrations before it even begins. we are here to we demonstrate. we don't agree with what macron says. we're fed up, we are working just to survive. today is one year since gilets jaunes took to the streets to demand social, tax and economicjustice. one year later, nothing has changed. we are still angry, and we're still here. and still they gas us and they beat us. a year on, the yellow vests certainly can't produce the numbers they used to, and ruthless policing is proving effective. but amony many people in france,

the spirit of resistance lives on. there have also been clashes in hong kong between police and pro—democracy protesters. these scenes took place near the polytechnic university, where police fired tear gas and petrol bombs were thrown. earlier, in a highly unusual move, chinese soldiers based in the territory left their barracks and helped dismantle barricades set up by protesters. counting of votes is underway in sri lanka after people cast their ballots in a presidential election with a high turnout of around 80%. the main contest is between the former defence secretary, gotabhaya rajapa ksa, and the housing minister, sajith premadasa. the election comes just seven months after a terrorist attack killed more than 250 people. the bbc‘s yogita limaye reports

from colombo. nobody was injured, but it meant the election started on a nervous note. as voting got under way, what is about large—scale violence as voting got under way, what is about la rge—scale violence began as voting got under way, what is about large—scale violence began to dissipate. people came out in large numbers. ina dissipate. people came out in large numbers. in a country of that sort of fear and religious divides after deadly bombings this year, it was a sign ofjust deadly bombings this year, it was a sign of just how deadly bombings this year, it was a sign ofjust how much the selection matters. we do not want the separation. we want to all be together. a bomb went off quite close to my house. it made me think, thatis close to my house. it made me think, that is my family, we might be gone, you never know what could happen. so i want my country to be stabilised again. the attacks that took place inside this church and at several other locations in sri lanka,

carried out by islamist extremists, we re carried out by islamist extremists, were the worst instances of violence this country has seen since it's a civil war ended ten years ago. they brought the issue of national security back into the spotlight. he has been pitching himself as the man who can keep the country safe. gotabhaya rajapa ksa, a who can keep the country safe. gotabhaya rajapaksa, a controversial former defence chief, credited with ending the civil war, but accused of human rights abuses by minority groups. the other big contender is this man, sajith premadasa. sri lanka's housing minister. he is projecting himself as the more democratic leader, but many believe the government he is a part of failed to prevent the easter attacks. sri lanka's future is on the cusp of two divergent parts. in

these boxes, the people's choice. the environment agency is warning of high water levels in the west of england as water continues to flow down the rivers severn and avon. 0ne place particularly susceptible to flooding is tewkesbury in gloucestershire, where properties have already suffered damage. andrew plant is there for us, and sent this update. they call this the island of tewkesbury. and you can see why. although, people here see this scene pretty much every year. this bit here is supposed to be a river. this is the river severn going past us pretty quickly here. all the way back on the horizon behind there behind those trees is the river avon. and the bit in the middle there for about ten months of the year, that is just a field. but at the moment, of course, it is basically a lake. and that is normal, that happens, as i say, almost every year. the problem is when it starts to sweep into the areas where people live. and that is beginning to happen already this year. now, the worst flooding here was back in 2007. they had really high water levels,

hundreds of homes were flooded. they are talking about this year possibly being the worst since then. everybody you talk to on the streets here, the locals are keeping one eye on the water levels. people are taking precautions. we have seen people putting up floodgates today, not just on their front doors, but also their gates, too. those will be effective as long as the washer doesn't get more than about 12 inches high. if it does, it starts to spill over into their homes. we have already seen a couple of cellars that are flooded with water. people getting the pumps on already to get rid of that. they have much bigger pumps on standby, standard kit, really, if you live by one of these rivers, to get rid of the water if it does start to come into their homes. now, the environment agency say it is a delayed reaction. so the rivers swell with the rains from the past few days, and eventually they meet here and they reach a peak. and they are probably expecting that to happen sometime early this evening. so everybody here in tewkesbury and the environment agency too keeping a very close eye on what happens with the waters here. now it's time for a look

at the weather forecast. a bit more patchy rain to come over the next 2a hours. could be further problems early next week, but i will get to that any moment. we will start off looking at what is going on in venice. you might remember on tuesday, we severe flooding, and we got a repeat performance in some respects coming up tomorrow. 1.6 metres above normal, be one of the top five aqua altas. that is due to low pressure in the mediterranean, a surge of water being shoved up the adriatic towards venice, which is causing the problems here. and that same area of the pressure will get pretty close to our shores in a couple of days. more on that any moment. for the time being, for the rest of tonight, quite cloudy conditions, still with patches of rain coming and going across northern england, north midlands, wales. chance for northern ireland and scotland. cold enough for some

snow over the higher ground on the highlands as well. and where sky is clear for anyone highlands as well. and where sky is clearfor anyone 15, we highlands as well. and where sky is clear for anyone 15, we could highlands as well. and where sky is clearfor anyone 15, we could be looking at a frost to start sunday. sunday, the same stripe of cloud running and across those same areas, so running and across those same areas, so further patches of green. not reading all the time, and no matter evacuations of rain, but clearly, any evacuations of rain, but clearly, a ny extra evacuations of rain, but clearly, any extra will not be helpful. brighter skies to the south, the best of the day's sunshine for scotla nd best of the day's sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, but some showers across the far north. wintry again over the high ground. sunday night, clearing skies working on to the north of the uk, and it will not be helpful. brighter skies to the south, the best of the day's sunshine for scotland and northern ireland, but some showers across the far north. wintry again over the high ground. sunday night, clearing skies working on to the north of the uk, and it'll be a to venice tomorrow, here it is pushing quite close to england on monday. high pressure looks like it will block its progress, but that could have some heavy rain on it, so keep a close eye on how close that rain band gets to these sensitive eastern areas. for the time being, though,

monday looking like a cold start, some mist and fog patches around, but bright with some subject. staying cold, though, temperatures three celsius in edinburgh after a cold and sharp frost. further south, eight or nine celsius the top temperature. however, into the middle part of the week, low pressure moving and of the atlantic. winds by this stage turning more to a south—easterly direction, as these bands of rain work in. but that means some of the heavier falls of rain on the eastern slopes of wales, and again across the midlands. and that all feeds into the severn and the avon will stop those rubber already having some troubles with flooding as we had a moment ago, so that could be the areas to watch as we head into tuesday and wednesday. that is your latest weather.

hello this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. the headlines: prince andrew speaks publicly for the first time about his friendship with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. in an exclusive interview with bbc newsnight, the duke says he was wrong to stay at epstein's house, and admits he let "the side down". that's the bits that, as it were, i kick myself for, because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family.