i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore, the headlines: after a two day standoff with the police protesters at hong kong polytechnic are leaving the building. further controversy for prince andrew after the bbc‘s exclusive interview. he says he doesn't regret his association with sex offenderjeffrey epstein. now lawyers say he should assist investigations in america. whether a person is a prince or a pauper, if anyone has evidence or information that might be relevant to an investigation of a criminal case, that person should provide it. i'm kasia madera in london. also in the programme:

a sweeping election victory for gota baya rajapa ksa. sri lanka's new president says he will be the leader of all citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity. and how to save the critically endangered pygmy possum in australia, by looking into its past. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. good morning. it's nine am in singapore, 1am in london and also nine in the morning in hong kong where local media are reporting that police have entered the polytechnic university campus after a 2—day standoff between protesters and police. activists inside the university set its main entrance on fire as police made another attempt

to take the building. police have used tear gas and water cannon against a group of about a hundred pro—democracy activists, who've responded with petrol—bombs and rocks fired from catapults. our correspondent, gabriel gatehouse who's at the scene sent this report a little after the trouble started. the assault on the campus started about five minutes ago. we saw several dozen black clad police officers suddenly materialise out of nowhere and start storming the place. they were firing rubber bullets and tear gas and in response, the protesters unleashed all the petrol—bombs they had, sometimes hurling whole boxes at a time which caused two huge fires at the main entrances to the campus. you may be able to hear a fire alarm going off. everyone is milling around and there is a bit of panic. i have seen some injured people and this does look like the beginning of

the end for this campus protest. so that was gabriel gatehouse, our reporter there on the ground. staying in hong kong. it's cross over their life now. —— let's cross their live now. robert godden is a human rights activist who's been watching events unfold at the polytechnic university. can you explain to us what you have been saying? we have been here for i6 been saying? we have been here for 16 hours now and we arrived yesterday evening when we saw running battles between the protesters here where i am standing now and the police just over at the junction. it was an exchange of water cannon fire and petrol—bombs. hired me on the bridge, a fierce battle took place earlier where the protesters managed to disable one of the armoured personnel carriers that the armoured personnel carriers that the police have with the amount of petrol—bombs they hit. they hit the

apc with. that went on through the night until there was a lull at about four o'clock and it wasn't until five that the water cannons began firing again as a distraction, we believe, for when the raptors, came in with other police in a surprise predawn attack and drove the protesters back into the campus. what is your understanding now of whether protesters we have been hearing reports and seeing movement within the campus of some of the protesters. have they left, other any protesters. have they left, other a . . protesters. have they left, other any insight? what is your understanding? about 30 minutes ago several hundred protesters came down the steps of the main campus building behind me here and it looked like they were going to actually try and fight their way out. so there are police cordons all the way around here. and about a hundred of them started to edge towards the police that way. and

engage them. others fled down under the bridge where the battle took place last night and some came past me here to try and escape to my right. there was probing and distractions to try and get as many of them out as possible. after all that we saw about 100 go back inside. so whether there were others who did not try to escape, we have seen people up on this mezzanine area who did not appear to try to leave so there is definitely a hundred or so still left on campus. do you know whether the police are trying to keep the campus? do you know what the police are trying to do with the protesters still there? we know that the entire area has been cordoned, you cannot go in and out without going through a police checkpoint. our understanding is

that everyone who goes through will have their id and their bag checked. last night we heard stories that people who were here as medic and various other observers were being arrested as they left. we have not tried that yet. so we will see. but certainly they do not want the protesters to leave but that strikes me as allowing the confrontation to continue, and also the campus is very difficult to storm. you mentioned in the preview about the fires, there is a single staircase up fires, there is a single staircase up here and then narrow bridges that go across in the protesters could defend those with large fires if they need to. and when it comes to they need to. and when it comes to the president of the polytechnic, from our understanding, had he got some kind of an agreement with the police was to mark as long as the

protesters were putting down any of the implements that they were using, they would be allowed to leave. can you confirm or not about what the president of the polytechnic has agreed or been talking about? we don't know. as of the early hours of the morning we believe a statement had been made by five of the deans of the universities in hong kong but the dean of polytechnic you had not signed it. in one of the things we have been monitoring on other campuses at the university of hong kong and we know people who are on the chinese national university campus earlier this week, there are a lwa ys campus earlier this week, there are always senior members of staff there for what was notable last night when we went inside to look around is that there were no members of staff and it appears that they have been deserted. whether a negotiation went on behind the scenes, i don't know. but this strikes me as it should be a situation where the solution is a

negotiated one rather than one that uses force. robert, thank you so much. i know you have been watching events there throughout the night and now early into the morning in hong kong and ijust want to bring you aware of what one of our correspondent has tweeted, he tweeted that it seems that police are trying to keep as many student protesters on the campus and then according to stephen, presumably the plan must be to rush the campus and make mass arrest. stephen is asking that as a question. so as robert was saying, he cannot really confirm that but, certainly ketterling being involved with a number of protesters still within the campus and we are looking now at live shot where the stand—off that had been ongoing through the night... well, it has

somewhat calmed down but it is still a tense situation as you can see. so as always we continue to monitor the live feed from hong kong of the details that our correspondent are also providing for us. worth following them for that reason on social media as well moving away from hong kong now. let's take a look at the other major story this hour. prince andrew is said to be standing by his decision to give a television interview about his disgraced former friend jeffrey epstein. speaking exclusively to the bbc, the queen's third child denied having a sexual encounter with a 17—year—old girl in 2001. the prince has admitted that going to stay with convicted sex offenderjeffrey epstein after his release from prison was a mistake, and is now facing calls to assist legal inquiries in the united states. our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. your royal highness, we've come to buckingham palace... the interview has been heard, andrew's answers have been noted, with incredulity in some quarters and, one suspects, with something close to despair

within the royal household. the reaction to his words in most cases has been negative. the consensus — in pr terms — the interview was extremely ill—advised. andrew was categoric about his denial of impropriety with the then—17—year—old virginia roberts. she has claimed that on the night of their alleged first encounter, in 2001, she was introduced to him at tramp, the nightclub in central london. she says they danced together there, but andrew was emphatic that he was at home. he says he had taken his daughter beatrice to this pizza restaurant in woking in surrey in the late afternoon. but how had he managed to remember a specific day so many years ago? because going to pizza express in woking is an unusual thing for me to do. a very unusual thing for me to do. i've never been... i've only been to woking a couple

of times, and i remember it weirdly distinctly. as soon as somebody reminded me of it, i went, "oh, yes, i rememberthat." in the united states, wherejeffrey epstein lived, lawyers are saying andrew should now repeat his testimony under oath. whether a person is a prince or a pauper, if anyone has evidence or information that might be relevant to an investigation of a criminal case, that person should provide it. and from those who have worked for the royal family there is sympathy for palace officials. who made the decision to put him on? did he make it himself? or did he seek advice within the palace? my guess is that he bulldozed his way in and decided that he was going to do it himself,

without any advice. i'm truly grateful for the opportunity... it was supposed to be the interview which drew a line under the story for andrew and allowed him to move on. there is no doubt that people close to prince andrew have been taken aback by the sheer intensity of the negative reaction to the interview. that i understand that he stands by the decision to do it. people who know him say that he wanted to confront these issues head on and feel that he did so with honesty and humility and they say they hope people willjudge him on that basis. sri lanka's most prominent military family is back in power with gotabaya rajapaksa winning the country's presidential election. he secured 52% of the vote, well ahead of his main rival, sajit premasada. mr rajapaksa is best known for being head of the defence force when the sri lankan government defeated the tamil tigers. the election largely

split along ethnic lines a wartime strongman returns, as sri lanka's most powerful. mr rajapaksa is seen as a leader who can keep their country safe. we don't have enough protection for the people. you see everywhere there are bombs and terrorists, day by day a lot of terrorists created here. so, we like to have a father for our mother country. in april this year, a series of attacks by islamist extremists killed more than 250 people. security became a big issue and a wartime defence chief sensed an

opportunity. he got his deadly reputation during this bloodied ethnic conflict between tamerlan surgeons in the sri lankan army. torture, killings, disappearances of minorities and the bombing of civilian areas. he is accused of them all. this is where the last very intense bit of fighting took place at the end of the sri lankan civil war. hundreds of thousands of tamils who were trapped there walked over this bridge into areas that we re over this bridge into areas that were under the control of the sri lankan military. among them were tamil rebel leaders who had negotiated the surrender with the government. but once they went across to the outside, many of them we re across to the outside, many of them were never heard from again. some believe they were killed on the orders of rajapa ksa.

believe they were killed on the orders of rajapaksa. thousands of those who disappeared were also civilians. their families still hold daily vigils asking for answers. even though it has been a decade since the war ended. even though it has been a decade since the war endedlj even though it has been a decade since the war ended. i don't think my son will come back. but we want to expose the atrocities to the world and that is why i come here. mr rajapa ksa has world and that is why i come here. mr rajapaksa has always denied the allegations against him. and as long as he remains president, he cannot be held to account. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: can researching its past safeguard the future of the pygmy possum? benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election

and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement. the south african government has announced that its opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage.

welcome back. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. and i'm kasi madera in london. our top stories: after a 2—day stand—off with the police protesters at hong kong, polytechnic are leaving the building, but are prevented from leaving the area. further controversy for prince andrew after the bbc‘s exclusive interview. he says he doesn't regret his association with sex offender jeffrey epstein. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. london's independent is leading with the dramatic pro—democracy protests in hong kong. it includes this photo of the latest clashes and reports on the prospect of the authorities using live bullets if there is more violence. we will bring you up—to—date with

what is happening in hong kong in a bit. and le figaro is marking one year since the arrest of former nissan and renault boss carlos ghosn. the paris newspaper is looking ahead to his trial on charges of financial misconduct and his fight with the japanese judicial system. that brings you up—to—date with some of the papers. now, what stories are sparking discussions online? there is actually a tweet from will.i.am. the musician has accused a qantas flight attendant of being racist towards him during a flight from brisbane to sydney. the frontman for the band, the black eyed peas, tweeted that he was singled out when he missed an announcement on the plane to put his laptop away. qantas has denied the allegation that the incident had anything to do with race. a lot of interest in that on social media. back to our top story, and as the

ongoing protests in hong kong. we are joined ongoing protests in hong kong. we arejoined from our ongoing protests in hong kong. we are joined from our bureau ongoing protests in hong kong. we arejoined from our bureau by our reporter, andrew. we were talking to you earlier on the asia business report programme about the extent of these protests, and overnight we have seen those battle scenes at the hong kong polytechnic. we are told now that students are clearing the area, there is a level of calm returning. what does it signify? is it simply the latest in an ongoing row now, in an all—too—familiar scene we have seen for several months? i think we have seen over the past week or so and escalation in violence that got worse about a week ago after a protester was shot, a teenager was shot with live ammunition. over the weekend we have seen a lot of violence in the universities, particularly in polytechnic university. police went in very early this morning, 5:30am hong kong

time to start to clear out the protesters. the protesters have responded with an awful lot of petrol—bombs, reports of bows and arrows being used as relative by the police. schools are still closed here in hong kong. they closed last week. it is a difficult time now because we have got elections coming up, district elections, council elections coming up next weekend. in the past, carrie lam the chief exec of has hinted these elected could be cancelled if there was continuing violence. at the moment that doesn't seem to be any sign that the protesters want to have a truce or anything coming up for the elections, although i do think that is carrie lam does go ahead and cancel the elections, that, or postpone them, that could make things even worse. as you say, things even worse. as you say, things could potentially get even worse over the weekend as well, andrew. we also saw the people's liberation army on the streets of

hong kong for the first time. they we re hong kong for the first time. they were wearing their shorts and t—shirts, removing barricades the processes had put up. at that co nsta nt processes had put up. at that constant fear that somehow china might step in and might take action, is that something that many protesters, many hong kong people who are not even involved in this, are they worried about that?” who are not even involved in this, are they worried about that? i think so. so far i think the people's liberation army going onto the streets and clearing up some of the debris and the broken barricades and so on, that may well have been just a very gentle warning, a reminder that the people's liberation army does keep a garrison here, it keeps lots of troops here and that the hong kong authorities, if they want to, they have the power under the basic law, the constitution of hong kong, to call the people's liberation army if they think things are getting out of hand. in the past that have been when people thought things up in a typhoon hit. there is a menace of the people's liberation

army and i don't think really either side wants to get into a tiananmen square sort of situation, because that would be disastrous certainly for the beijing authorities, but at the same time there seems to be ratcheting up of violence the side of the protesters and also the responses from the police seem to be getting more forthright as well. as you say they have warned they might be using live ammunition, they started deploying new weapons against the protesters such as using sound, a controversial sound weapon to try to break up the protests. andrew wood with the latest from hong kong, thank you. australian researchers are looking to the past in a bid to secure the future of a critically endangered possum. this is the mountain pygmy possum. it's thought there are less than 2,500 of them living in alpine regions across new south wales and victoria. hayley bates from the university of new south wales, sydney

has been researching these possums. i asked her how climate change has been affecting them. the space is incredibly unusual. they are very different from other possums. they are found on our highest mountain peaks and spend most of their time underground and we feel they are very threatened by climate change, so they have an unusual relationship with snow, they tend to occur in our highest areas and many of their food resources as well are impacted by climatic changes, depending on the cold and warm seasons. so it turns out, it sounds like there is little possums are not well suited to cold climates, but you found that out through looking at fossils. tell us a little bit about that. yes, that's right. this piece is actually has a really unique path. as lineage goes backin

really unique path. as lineage goes back in the australian fossil record for about 25 million years. currently we see it as a really vulnerable species but that is not true when we look at the fossil record going back. so this group seems to have survived climate change over and over again throughout the fossil record while many other groups have disappeared. and there are lots of really interesting things that pop out in the fossil record that we hope can help us understand the changes that are going to take place in the australian alps, and that is what we are australian alps, and that is what we a re really interested australian alps, and that is what we are really interested in looking at, trying to get some possums in captivity and conduct some experiments, seeing how they survive and deal and cope in various conditions. modelled on how we think the australian alps is going to change. and that is really important because we know that the australian alps are changing and we are seeing big changes happen up there at the moment, so the snow is coming at different times, the season that it

is there is actually shifting and changing, food resources are changing, food resources are changing in the alps as well, and we are seeing... the possums are unusual things they have potentially done before in history, so because the snow is coming later in victoria, they have actually noticed that they have been giving birth to a second letter of young, which is quite unusual. at the fossil record potentially gives us clues on how to deal with that. so that is what we are deal with that. so that is what we a re really interested deal with that. so that is what we are really interested in looking at. that was haley bates who has been researching the pygmy possum, has been researching the pygmy possum , so has been researching the pygmy possum, so small they fit into your palm. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasi madera in london. and i'm sharanjit leyl in singapore. stay with us. we will be returning to the topic of hong kong injust a bit, and that is after more than five months of photos there. and the first recession in a decade, fears the territory is heading

for even choppier economic waters. and it's bye—bye to bei bei! the 11—year—old giant panda is enjoying some special treats at the smithsonian's national zoo in washington dc before literally jetting off to china. hello there. i think we've got a couple of dry days coming up. some sunshine, but some cold warnings on the way as well. that said, we've still got a legacy of cloudy weather for east anglia. a of cloudy weather for east anglia. few mist and fog patches a few mist and fog patches, a view patches of drizzle. skies clearing further north, we've already seen some temperatures fall well below freezing and a sharp and widespread frost is running across the northern half of the country. showers coming in across northern scotland here. the added risk of some icy surfaces to take us into monday. low pressure at bay to our east, that means it should be a fine and dry day for the vast majority of us. it might be quite cloudier

across the extreme east of england for a time, but for most of us, after that cold and locally frosty start of the day, we are looking a dry and sunny weather. showers for the north—east of scotland, a few running down our north sea coast of england. after that bitterly cold start of the day in the scottish capital, temperatures here reach around 2 degrees to the afternoon, so it is going to be a cold one for sure. on monday night, the frost gets more widespread and more intense. some in scotland could see temperatures getting down as low as —10 degrees celsius. if that happens, that would be the coldest night of the autumn. now, looking at the weather picture into the middle part of the week, high pressure initally stays with us. but, increasingly, we'll see this low pressure try to make inroads off the atlantic. and that's going to be bringing rain or showers to western areas. but that said, i don't think the rain is going to be as troublesome as it has been for much of this autumn. now, we could have some lingering mist and fog patches to start off on tuesday, otherwise cold and frosty. and we'll start to see this band of rain working across northern ireland,

maybe getting into western fringes of wales and perhaps into the extreme west of cornwall as well. but for most, it's another dry day, dry, yes, but still pretty chilly. temperatures, 4 in edinburgh, 4 in hull and 7 the top temperature in london. heading into wednesday, the rain makes further inroads. so a better chance of seeing that rain returning to south—west england, returning later in the day to northern ireland. with more of a south—easterly breeze blowing through the day, we're going to start to see temperatures lifting by a few degrees. highs reaching 8 or 9 degrees in london and cardiff, 8 degrees or so in aberdeen, 10 for belfast. so, over the next few days, heavy rain is not likely to be as heavy or persistent as we've seen, so often this autumn. cold nights to watch out for, a few fog patches, but it does turn milder later in the week. that's your weather.

i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. our top story.

hong kong police have entered the polytechnic university campus after a 2—day standoff between protesters and police. some protesters have emerged from the building after a night of some of the worst violence the territory has seen since the movement began, but are prevented by police from leaving the area. there's further controversy for prince andrew after the bbc‘s exclusive interview. he said he didn't regret his association with sex offenderjeffrey epstein. now lawyers say he should assist investigations in america. and musician will.i.am says a qantas flight attendant was "racist" towards him during a flight from brisbane to sydney. the frontman for the band black eyed peas tweeted that he was singled out when he missed a plane announcement to put his laptop away. qantas denies the allegation. that's all. stay with bbc world news.