this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at eleven: in an exclusive interview with the bbc, prince andrew has denied having sex with a 17—year—old girl who claims she was groomed by his friend jeffrey epstein. he says he doesn't remember this picture being taken of him with the woman who claims she was forced to have sex with him land i and absolutely, land absolutely, categorically tell you, it's never happened. do you remember any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts? none whatsoever. the prince says he doesn't regret being friends with the disgraced financier, even though epstein was convicted of sex offences. there are concerns about the cladding on a block of student flats in bolton engulfed by fire.

the education secretary has ordered universities to review fire safety and all the buildings after two people were hurt in a blaze. labour agrees its election manifesto, jeremy corbyn says it will offer a once—in—a—generation chance for a better britain. and a boost for welsh hopes for euro 2020, with a 2—0 win over azerbaijan. and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers nigel nelson and jo phillips, stay with us for that.

good evening. prince andrew has told the bbc he categorically denies having sexual relations with virginia roberts, the woman who says she was forced to have sex with him when she was 17 years old. in an interview with the bbc‘s newsnight programme, broadcast tonight, he spoke in detail for the first time about his links with the convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein. the duke of york said he had no regrets about his friendship with the disgraced financier, who died earlier this year. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. in the state rooms at buckingham palace, a senior member of the british royal family, prince andrew, second son of the queen, is preparing to be interrogated about allegations of sleazy behaviour and gross misjudgment. your royal highness, we've come to buckingham palace in highly unusual circumstances... at issue, which of these two people is telling the truth?

andrew or virginia roberts, 17 years old when this photograph was taken? groomed, she says, to provide sexual favours to powerful men. even the photo is contentious. andrew says he has no memory of it. tramp, a nightclub in central london. virginia roberts says she was there with andrew one night in march 2001. she says they later had sex. andrew says he was with his family. and he told the bbc‘s emily maitlis, there's a medical reason why ms roberts' allegation cannot be true. she was very specific about that night. she described dancing with you... no. and you profusely sweating, and that she went on to have... there's a slight problem with the sweating, because i... l have a peculiar medical condition which is that i don't sweat or that ldidn't sweat at the time.

is it possible that you met virginia roberts, dined with her, danced with her in tramp, had sex with her, on another date? no. do you remember meeting her at all? no. you can say categorically that you don't recall meeting virginia roberts, dining with her, dancing with her at tramp and going on to have sex with her in a bedroom in a house in belgravia? i can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts, then or at any other time? none whatsoever. the other key figure in all of this isjeffrey epstein, the new york financier who befriended andrew. epstein employed virginia roberts and many other young girls. in 2008 he was convicted of a child sex offence and sent to prison. so...

do you regret the whole friendship with epstein? now, still not, the reason being that the people that i met and the opportunities that l was given to learn, either by him or because of him, were actually very useful. in 2010 andrew visited epstein after his release from prison and stayed for several nights at his home in new york. a wrong judgement, andrew now says — "i let the side down". 0verall, did he think his behaviour had damaged the royalfamily? ldon't believe it's been damaging to the queen at all. it has to me. i wonder what effect this has had on your close family? you've got daughters of your own. it has been what i would describe as a constant sore in the family. finally, as he looks back...

i wonder if you have any sense now of guilt, regret, or shame about any of your behaviour and your friendship with epstein? as far as mr epstein is concerned, it was the wrong decision to go and see him in 2010. do i regret the fact that he has quite obviously conducted himself in a manner unbecoming? yes. "unbecoming"? he was a sex offender. yeah. i'm sorry, i'm being polite. andrew will be hoping that his answers will allow him to move on. that remains to be seen. and nicholas witchell told my colleague ben brown how the interview has been received. thatjerry is well that jerry is well and thatjerry is well and truly out, i would say. it is a big gamble for him. ithink would say. it is a big gamble for him. i think he very much wanted to do this interview, supported by his closest official. i don't think the queens officials at buckingham palace have had very to do with the.

he will certainly hope to gain credit for having answered all the questions put to him, nothing was off—limits, fairly relentless interrogation. he will hope to be relieved of his denials, given the impression that he is a man with nothing to hide and certainly he seemed quite open and quite relaxed during the interview. where i think he will struggle more is his refusal to regret the friendship with jeffrey epstein. his statement earlier that he was somehow too honourable to have broken off that friendship, he now accepts that was a wrong judgement, and apart from the credibility, i think it's the underlying sense of an element of arrogance, of naivete, of a lack of self—awareness that perhaps people will find rather surprising. 0ne other thing he left open, the option ofa other thing he left open, the option of a sworn deposition which of course is what the american authorities are hoping that he will 110w authorities are hoping that he will now agree to.

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 was this girl who came running and she banged on the doors of the people on my floor, and she just started screaming, saying there was a fire, get out of here right now. when we were running down the stairs, it was getting higher and higher and catching really quickly. 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, and the students living here in the cube have been

reassured it was safe, but the videos posted on social media have raised alarm bells. this isn't a grenfell cladding scenario. this is a different type of material, essentially a compressed wood or paper pulp, which is still combustible and, as we see from the footage, once it takes hold with a fire, it has potential to impinge on the evacuation or the safety of the occupants. this afternoon, prime minister boris johnson visited a shelter to meet affected students, and then to the scene where he met firefighters. the university of bolton says it's finding new accommodation for its students and offering them support. all my belongings, it's all gone. i don't know what to say. how are you feeling about it all? traumatised. tonight, there's a warning from the fire brigades' union, who describe the videos as alarming and say urgent action is needed. 0livia richwald, bbc news, bolton.

after six hours of talks, senior labor party figures have reached an agreement on the party's manifesto for next month's general election. jeremy corbyn hailed the set of policies as "transformative". it will be a once in a generation opportunity to vote for a more egalitarian society that cares for all and egalitarian society that cares for allandi egalitarian society that cares for alland i am egalitarian society that cares for all and i am very proud of the contents all and i am very proud of the co nte nts of all and i am very proud of the contents of it and they can't wait to ta ke contents of it and they can't wait to take those contents and its promise of a better britain to eve ryo ne promise of a better britain to everyone all around this country during our election campaign. 0ur political correspondent iain watson told my colleague ben brown more details about what could be in labour's manifesto. taken together, ta ken together, labor's taken together, labor's policy would certainly signal a much stronger role for the state, the next government programmes of nationalisation, but today's meeting was about trying to sort out disagreements behind closed doors. for example, the party's grassroots

of the conference wanted to see a policy not just of the conference wanted to see a policy notjust of maintaining the free movement of workers but extending at. some unions were worried that might put off voters who were worried about immigration, soiam who were worried about immigration, so i am told today there will be no explicit commitment to extend free movement in the manifesto and there will be new policies to regulate the employment market so that people don't feel they are going to be undercut by migrant labour. another was over a commitment to deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2030. that will be on the manifesto at a target not a deadline. also help for women who have been adversely affected by an increase in the state's retirement age, and drilling down further there is going to be a commitment to free dental checks in england, although we won't see the exact wording of the manifesto, then, until thursday. 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. the sinn fein leader, mary lou mcdonald, has told her party conference there should be a referendum on irish unity within the next five years. she said she believed a united ireland would be achieved in the 2020s. earlier, sinn fein's leader at stormont, michelle o'neill saw off a challenge to her position. french police have used water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators in paris, on the first anniversary of the anti—government protest movement. the clashes were the worst for several months, with thousands of protestors coming on to the streets to support the so—called gilet jaune or yellow vest movement. more than a hundred people were arrested. from paris, lucy williamson reports.

in paris today, a reminder that the anger that sparked this movement a year ago hasn't gone away. the number of protesters much smaller now, but for the rioters and police, the tactics remain the same. translation: today is one year since the gilets jaunes took to the streets, to demand social, tax and economicjustice. one year later nothing has changed. we are still angry and still here, and still they gas us and they beat us. it was enough for police to ban the main protest at place d'italie. tear gas and water cannon clearing the square within hours. tonight across the city, small pockets of demonstrators are still battling with the police. the worry for the government is that this will notjust be a one—day protest but a whole new wave of opposition. president macron is facing a string of different protests over the next few weeks, from unions, students and public sector workers.

isolated fires are one thing... the danger is they will unite to become an inferno. lucy williamson, bbc news, paris. protests have erupted across iran after the government unexpectedly announced it was rationing petrol and increasing its price by 50%. at least one person has been killed and several hurt during clashes with security forces. iran's economy is already suffering because of tough sanctions imposed by the united states. more than 60 flood warnings are still in place across england and wales as water levels begin to subside after large parts of the country were water—logged. south yorkshire has been worst hit. today hundreds of volunteers started a clean—up effort in doncaster — a week on from the worst of the flooding. some people travelled miles to help out, as tom airey reports.

ruined down to the foundations. two weeks ago, glyn had decorators in his living room putting up new wallpaper. a week later, it's volunteers ripping up the floor after floodwater rose up through it. we had a few sandbags that i bought years ago and put them in front of the door, but a stupid person drove by when it were about two—foot and knocked my wall down. everything's gone, my blinds fell down, everything, but like i say, i couldn't do it without these people. glyn, like many others in bentley, has been uninsured after the cost of flood cover became unaffordable following major floods here 12 years ago. we came together to help him. what we can do for these people that aren't insured we'll do. we've taken all these floors up, the skirting boards, and then all this rubbish from underneath here, as we need to dry it out and then what we will do once we have all these floors up, we'll deodorise it all,

sanitise it and put dehumidifiers in. today's clear up was organised by st peter's church with volunteers using a local window company as a hub to store donated supplies. we've had a massive response. i'm guessing over 100 people here already for nine o'clock. we have put them all in hi—vizers, give them a pair of gloves, wellies, wheel barrows, shovels and away they have gone. we broke off into five teams with a team leader and you will see they are out on all the streets helping everybody and trying to get this place tidy. the doncaster suburb was submerged in knee—deep water last friday after the river don burst its banks. the high volumes pumped here are now being cleared away and it marks the end of the emergency phase. now the volunteers here are rolling in to help with the recovery process and residents here say this process will take months to complete. the efforts are involving everyone — neighbours, local businesses and even those who have crossed county borders to lend a hand. just got together, come up today,

just to help clear out a lot of the ruined carpets, furniture, a lot of the fridges and washing machines ruined, so if we can get them out of the houses, it makes life easier. staff from a nearby supermarket added their support while residents filled bags with ruined clothes destined for the skip. and despite the rain falling once again, it didn't dampen efforts of the volunteers giving up their weekend to help others. the headlines on bbc news: prince andrew denies having sexual relations with a 17 year—old—girl who claims she was groomed by his friend jeffrey epstein. the education secretary orders universities to review fire safety in all their buildings, after 100 students had to flee a fire at an accommodation block in bolton. labour agrees its election manifesto — jeremy corbyn says it will offer a "once—in—a—generation" chance for a better britain.

sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. good evening. it was a busy day of european qualifiers for three of the home nations trying to follow england in reaching euro 2020. wales took their fate into their own hands in azerbaijan, northern ireland's automatic hopes ended at home to the netherlands while scotland knew they couldn't qualify automatically regardless of their results against cyprus, but won anyway. patrick gearey has more. for wales's automatic qualification hopes it was baku a bust. so in the world's lois lane capital city they chose to aim high. it is six foot five kieffer moore who may have retired earlier this year with a fractured skull. much like this need courage. bravery takes different

forms. sometimes it is the decision to have a go. danieljames did, harry wilson and wales benefited. 2-0. that harry wilson and wales benefited. 2—0. that sucked the nerves out of the azeri air. the job was done, or at least past one — my part one. hungary on tuesday will be decisive. northern ireland know their manager will be leaving them but first he has something he wants to finish. like wales, northern ireland are guaranteed a spot in the play—offs, so why not have a go against the netherlands. you never know your luck. the referee spotted a dutch handball in there, penalty. stephen davis, the captain and owner of 116 caps. anyone can miss them. it felt as crucial as it did cruel as the netherlands pushed on a second—half, threatening only rarely but controlling near completely. they only needed a draw to reach the finals, northern ireland needed more. but they would not get another chance despite denying the dutch they must make do with the play—offs. but for those games at

least, the manager will still be there by their side. there might be some leaving do. england are already assured of a spot at euro 2020 and have their final qualifier against kosovo tomorrow. nojoe gomez orjordan henderson — the liverpool duo are missing with a knee injury and viral infection respectively. the rest of the squad trained today at st george's park before heading out to prishtina. it comes just two days after gomez was booed at wembley following his clash with raheem sterling. i think now is a good moment for him to go home for a couple of days, clear his head, the pleasing thing for me is that we have him back on the pitch, i think the fact that raheem said what here the other night is closure on the whole incident. we get raheem back on the pitch tomorrow, we won the match on thursday, and we can nowjust look forward. stefanos tsitsipas described beating roger federer in the semifinals of the atp world tour finals

as a ‘dream come true'. the greek is 17 years federer‘s junior, but flew out of the blocks to take an early lead before and eventually the first set by 6—3. federer was flawless in beating novak djokovic in the round round stage, but was well below par as tsitsipas eventually took the match in straight sets. ——round robin stage. he'll play dominic thiem next after the austrian dispatched the defending champion alexander zverev, also in straight sets 7-5, 6-4. the winner of tomorrow evening's final is guaranteed around £1.25 million. nine sides from the home nations got their european champions cup campaigns under way today. leinster and glasgow enjoyed home wins, while exeter ran in four tries beating la rochelle 31—12. ulster also won away at bath. harlequins were thumped 53—21 by clermont, while munster beat 0spreys in an all—pro 1a clash in pool 4. max verstappen will start on pole

position for tomorrow's brazilian grand prix. he was already on provisional pole before bettering his time with his final run in qualifying. he'll start alongisde sebastian vettel with lewis hamilton in third. just before we go, england are playing theirfinal warm up match for their test series against new zealand. you can listen to commentary with test match special right now on bbc radio 5 live sports extra. you're up to date from the bbc sport centre. counting is under way 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 and the housing minister. the election comes just seven months after a terrorist attack killed more than 250 people.

buses carrying muslim minority voters, attacked by unidentified gunmen in sri lanka's north—west. no—one was injured, but it meant the election started on a nervous note. as voting got under way, worries about continuing violence began to dissipate. people came out in large numbers. in a country that saw fear and religious divides after deadly bombings this year, it was a sign ofjust how much this election matters. we do not want the separation. muslims, burghers, singhalese, all must be together. a bomb went off quite 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, were the worst instances of violence this country has seen since its 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 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 paths. in these boxes —

the people's choice. we will be taking an and we'll be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, nigel nelson, the political editor at the sunday mirror and sunday people, and the political commentator, jo phillips, who was a press secretary for the liberal democrats. that's coming up just after the headlines at 11:30. now it's time for a look at the weather. more rain on the way? we will get some patchy rain. flooding remains a concern, but flooding also remains a concern further afield in venice. you might remember last week we had those severe floods sitting in on tuesday, we have similar conditions in the way for sunday. around the middle of the day, the high water coming in at 1.6 metres are making it one of the highest of the last 90 years. it may not reach quite the dizzy heights of

tuesday but there will be severe flooding during the middle part of the day on sunday. this is why. an area of low pressure is forming at the moment, with south—easterly winds pushing water up the adriatic and at the top of the adriatic is where we find venice. at low pressure will then move close to the british isles by monday. for the time being a lot of cloud at the moment, some patchy outbreaks and persistent rain across the north—east of england, it is optically north—east of england, it is y north—east of england, it is but north—east of england, it is optically happy but will be there for most of the night, with showers across the north and west, they could be some clearer slots which will allow temperatures to dip down to freezing in scotland in southern england. that takes us into sunday, the zone of damp weather continuing across north england in the north midlands and wales, bright skies in the south, a few showers around the west and eastern peripheries and across scotland and northern ireland, whether cheering up with more sunshine coming through during the afternoon, but it will feel cold and there will be showers across the north of scotland. through sunday night we will get clearer skies across the northern half of the uk,

across the northern half of the uk, a cold night with widespread frost, temperatures down to “11 in edinburgh but told them that in the countryside. for monday, high pressure is in charge, but this area of low pressure is the one that will bring flooding to venice, that is trying to move into eastern areas of england, but it is being blocked by this area of high pressure. there is a question over whether the rain makes it to us, hopefully it does not because it could be quite heavy. for the time being it looks like there should be a lot of dry weather, and after a cold and frosty start of the day, a few mist and fog patches, we are looking at a sunny day but cold. temperatures three celsius in edinburgh and eight for london. heading into the middle part of the week, low pressure is going to move in off the atlantic, and with that the wins will background more to a south—east direction, dragging and milderair more to a south—east direction, dragging and milder air but at the same time we will see heavy rain setting into parts of east wales and across the midlands, which is cause for concern given that we have some flooding issues, particularly across the middle and at the moment. ——

midlands.

hello, this is bbc news with lu kwesa burak. we'll be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment, first the headlines. prince andrew has categorically denied having any sexual contact with an american woman, who says she was forced to have sex with him aged 17. i can absolutely, categorically tell you, it's never happened. do you recall any kind of sexual contact with virginia roberts? none whatsoever. the prince says he doesn't regret being friends with the disgraced financier, even though epstein was convicted of sex offences. there are concerns about the cladding on a block of student flats in bolton engulfed by fire. labour agrees its election manifesto, jeremy corbyn says it

will offer a once—in—a—generation chance for a better britain. and a boost for welsh hopes for euro 2020, with a 2—0 win over azerbaijan. hello, and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. with me are nigel nelson, the political editor at the sunday mirror and sunday people, and the political commentator, jo phillips, who was a press secretary for the liberal democrats. many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. like many of the papers, the observer leads on the bbc‘s