welcome to newsday. i'm kasia madera in london, the headlines. queen elizabeth's son, prince andrew, steps back from public duties — after controversy over his links to a convicted sex offender. a key witness in the impeachment inquiry says donald trump wanted him to press ukraine to investigate a political rival. the president hits back. so here is my answer. i want nothing. i want to know could pro quo.

growing tensions between the uk and china — as a british consular worker tells the bbc he was tortured by chinese secret police. and we talk to the star of a hotly tipped film at this week's singapore film festival. live from our studios in singapore and london, this is bbc world news. it's newsday. it's 8am in singapore and midnight here in london where prince andrew has decided to step back from his royal duties for the foreseeable future. it follows controversy surrounding his friendship with the convicted paedophile, jeffrey epstein. and his disastrous interview at the weekend with the bbc. the prince has denied having sex with a 17—year—old girl procured for him by epstein. but a number of organisations linked to his work have begun to distance themselves. nicholas witchell reports.

driving himself into buckingham palace yesterday, the only sighting of prince andrew since the newsnight interview was broadcast. hostility towards him has shown no sign of lessening. "poison prince" and "pariah prince" were just two of the newspaper headlines this morning. at the same time, sponsors of his various initiatives and charities have continued to distance themselves from him. all this in response to a notably misjudged interview in which he failed to find either the right tone or the right words to respond to his association with jeffrey epstein. tonight, he and buckingham palace accepted that his position had become unsustainable. in a statement, prince andrew said: "i have asked her majesty if i may

step back from public duties for the foreseeable future and she has given her permission". he went on: "i continue to unequivocally regret my ill—judged association with jeffrey epstein. i deeply sympathise with everyone who has been affected. i can only hope that in time they will be able to rebuild their lives". and finally and significantly: "of course, i am willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency with their investigations if required". the tone was notably contrite, something of a contrast to saturday night's broadcast. any sense now of guilt, regret or shame about any of your behaviour in 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, 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. for the queen, fulfilling royal duties tonight on this, her 72nd wedding anniversary, it must be both upsetting and unwelcome.

andrew has always enjoyed her particular support but by this morning, it will have become evident that his position was untenable. thus, for the first time, one of her own immediate family has been forced by public opinion to step back. i've never seen such a reaction to a royal interview. i mean, there have not been that many royal interviews but the reaction was just so condemnatory and he came across so badly. not once expressing regret for those, or sympathy, for the victims of epstein‘s behaviour. buckingham palace will be hoping that andrew's statement and his withdrawal from public duties will stem the criticism. they will be hoping, too, that the epstein allegations have now run their full course. also making news today: a former employee at the british

consulate in hong kong has told the bbc he was tortured in mainland china and accused of inciting political unrest in the city. simon cheng says he was shackled, blindfolded and hooded when he was detained for a fortnight in august. the uk has summoned the chinese ambassador and condemned mr cheng's treatment. in response, china is calling on britain to keep out of chinese affairs. translation: the chinese ambassador will summon the british side to express our anger. involvement in chinese affairs will harm british interests. in hong kong, divers have entered sewers near the polytechnic university to search for besieged demonstrators. a four—day siege at the campus has

been one of the most dramatic confrontations in the protest movement. several demonstrators reportedly attempted to escape through the sewers. the leader of the liberal democrats in the uk has described brexit as a national embarrassment. launching her party's election manifesto, jo swinson said that remaining in the eu would free up £50 billion to spend on public services. other proposals include a frequent flyer tax and a renewables target of 80%. myanmar says the country's civilian leader, aung san suu kyi, will personally lead a legal team at the international court ofjustice next month to argue against accusations of genocide committed against the rohingya people. the case was filed last week by gambia on behalf of the organisation of islamic cooperation. a woman has been reunited with a koala she saved from a bushfire in australia. toni doherty pulled the distressed koala from a burning tree, poured water on his burnt paws and wrapped him in a blanket before

taking him to a koala hospital. she's been praised for saving the animal's life. it's been a day of explosive testimony at president trump's impeachment inquiry, although the white house has dismissed the significance of evidence from a senior us diplomat. the us ambassador to the eu, gordon sondland, confirmed he was acting at the express direction of the president when he pressured ukraine to conduct political investigations. he said the quid pro quo was directed by mr trump's attorney rudy giuliani. but mr sondland said the president never instructed him directly. our north america editor jon sopel reports. the day a simmering pot boiler became a blockbuster drama, with this unlikely character as the leading man. gordon sondland, a wealthy hotelier, was made ambassador to the european union

on the strength of $1 million donation to donald trump's inauguration committee. now he'd come under oath to eviscerate the president's account of his dealings with ukraine. i was acting in good faith. as a presidential appointee, i followed the directions of the president. we worked with mr giuliani because the president directed us to do so. we had no desire to set any conditions. we had no desire to set any conditions on the ukrainians. the president has denied repeatedly there was a quid pro quo, or as democrats now call it, bribery. in other words, unless the ukrainians delivered what donald trump demanded, vital military aid and a white house meeting would be withheld.

was there a quid pro quo? as i testified previously with regard to the requested white house call and the white house meeting, the answer is yes. and according to sondland, everyone was in on the plan — the president, the vice president, secretary of state, chief of staff. they all knew what was going on. everyone was in the loop. it was no secret. everyone was informed via e—mail on july 19th, days before the presidential call. but one important source of comfort for the white house — sondland said he never heard directly from the president conditioning aid on an enquiry into the bidens, and that's been seized on by the president, who had his script lines carefully prepared. ready? you have the cameras rolling? i want nothing! that's what i want from ukraine. that's what i said. i want nothing! i said it twice. gordon sondland was faced with a binary choice in his evidence today. tie himself to donald trump, be vague about the decisions made and hope forfuture protection. or he could throw the president

and his personal emissary, rudy giuliani, under the bus and take the vice president and secretary of state with them. he chose option two. it's hard to believe he will be eu ambassador for much longer. jon sopel, bbc news, washington. i asked the bbc‘s laura trevelyan in washington if ambassador sondland's testimony was a watershed moment. well, it's definitely highly significant because he said that he was at king at the express direction of the president on ukraine and the president has been saying there was no quid pro quo, no something for something when it came to ukraine. ambassador sondland said there was a quid pro quo but it was directed by rudy giuliani, the president's personal attorney and that quid pro quo was that ukraine had to announce investigations into the president's political rivals and the 2016 election for they could get a visit

to the white house however republicans will be encouraged by the fact that gordon sondland didn't directly tie the idea of that military aid to ukraine was withheld and he didn't directly tied to the president, he said that he presumed that this is why the president wa nted that this is why the president wanted the ukrainians to announce an investigation and they wouldn't get military aid until they did but he didn't make that direct link to some believe that the republicans. the fa ct believe that the republicans. the fact gordon sondland was merrily saying this wasn't a rogue diplomatic effort. it involved the secretary of state he did involve the vice president so a lot of denials coming out of the white house and the state department today. laura, yesterday, we were talking about the democrats and the republicans not being on the same page. was there more of the same today? yes, it was indeed. a lot of divisions. ambassador sondland was a slightly tricky witness for republicans because he was a donor to the trump inauguration, he is a

trumpa to the trump inauguration, he is a trump a pointy and so they won't quite sure whether they should try to undermine him or they should try to undermine him or they should try to get out of him the fact that he is linked with the president, maybe not as directors democrats made out so not as directors democrats made out so it was a completely fascinating day and another big hearing tomorrow in the impeachment enquiry and how quickly i do cats going to move. other going to draft articles impeachment against the present, accuse him of bribery and say he is obstructing congress by not letting witnesses appear in front of this hearing. ambassador sondland, he appeared when he got a subpoena but other administration witnesses have not so the betting is that before christmas, there could be a vote on whether the house of representatives impeaches the president. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: cleaning up coral. we meet the divers who are hoping to dump the rubbish from indonesia's reefs.

also in the programme — singapore's film festival kicks off with the story of an illicit love affair. the star of the film will bejoining us live. 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 it's 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. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm rico hizon in singapore. i'm kasia madera in london. our top stories. queen elizabeth's son prince andrew has announced he's stepping back from public duties, amid renewed controversy over his links with a convicted sex offender. a top us diplomat has told the trump impeachment inquiry he was acting under presidential orders when pressuring ukraine to launch investigations against a rival. let's take a look at some front pages from around the world. singapore's straits times reports

on a very close escape for one driver. he was trapped inside his car after a tree collapsed on his vehicle. but luckily he managed to escape unscathed after being rescued by some helpful pedestrians. the japan times is wondering what's next for the record breaker shinzo abe? on wednesday he became the country's longest serving prime minister. over the next two years he plans to focus on constitution reform and supporting the elderly. and the new york times is looking at the tropical plants growing into an obsession for some collectors. aroids — as they're known — have blossomed in popularity in recent years and their green fingered fans can't wait to get their hands on the most exotic foliage.

let's get an update on the situation in hong kong, where some of the last protesters remaining at the besieged polytechnic university have tried to escape, and evade the police by crawling through sewers. aaron mcnicholas is the social media editor for bloomberg in hong kong. you've been closely following the situation at polytechnic university. bring us up—to—date. how many protesters are still there? though still there have said in some cases they are determined to hold out for as long as possible. because despite the fact that the conditions there in terms of hygiene and in terms of food supply are getting quite bad, those who are still there are quite fea rful of those who are still there are quite fearful of the reaction in the way they will be handled by the police once they leave. this movement of

the last five months has been characterised by allegations of lease brutality so there are quite a number of protesters who, although they do fear the idea of arrest in principle, they do fear how the police may treat them once the stand—off is over. there are dozens of protesters still holding out and despite intervention and despite intervention by religious leaders, they will hold out until the very end. can you tell us anymore about some of the attempts made those who do want to escape but evade police? there is talks of them using the sewers to leave the campus. that happened in the last 2a hours. some tried to do that, escaping through the sewer system. a dozen or so i may be successful but others and we re may be successful but others and were either arrested or the conditions were understandably so unhygienic that they had no choice but to turn back. there were also cases on tuesday where because of

the road structure next to the university, a few dozen were able to abseil down from the pedestrian foot ridge onto a traffic footbridge and be taken away on motorcycles. a few dozen escaped by that means and others, once the police became aware of this escape method, were arrested onceit of this escape method, were arrested once it was discovered. there have been some escape attempts that have been some escape attempts that have been successful but since monday or tuesday about 1000 people have either left voluntarily, failed and the resistance effort to leave and have either been arrested or had details recorded because the arrangement now is that if you are under 18 and leave peacefully you can leave and go home without being arrested immediately. the police will record your identification details and they reserve the right to pursue the investigation later. what information are you getting on

those who have left and been arrested? it certainly is the case where the hong kong quarterback logged with numerous cases, not simply related to those inside the university. on monday night and on tuesday night we also saw scenes where protesters outside the campus we re where protesters outside the campus were surrounding the urban areas around it to try and break the police caught in lines and provide an escape message “— police caught in lines and provide an escape message —— method for those still trapped. on monday night, those scenes led to widespread clashes with police and resulted in 200 people, at least, being arrested. so we have a situation where the courts are very much backlogged with cases and that will take time to process. i understand the courts that until late yesterday, for example. as you can tell, this is being handled as a law & order situation. local police say they want to end the stand—off

peacefully and they have every intention of pursuing the legal matters to the fullest dint of the law. —— extent of the law. matters to the fullest dint of the law. -- extent of the law. thank you for updating us on the situation. indonesia is the world's second largest contributor to marine waste. seeing the beautiful coral reefs off the coast of indonesia's capital drowning in plastic, 25—year—old swietenia puspa lestari decided to take action. she leads a team of volunteer divers, who clear rubbish from the reefs and recycle what they find.

and important enterprise there. now some breaking news coming into was from northern thailand. we have reports of an earthquake, magnitude 6.1 which struck in northern thailand. no immediate reports of casualties or damages but the agency reporting this said that the earthquake struck at a depth of ten kilometres around 92 kilometres north—east of wang nam. northern

thailand, a 6.1 magnitude earthquake and we will continue to monitor this and we will continue to monitor this and bring you updates when we get them. the singapore international film festival kicks off on thursday with a movie from local writer—director anthony chen. ‘wet season' follows the illicit relationship between a school teacher and her young male student in singapore. the film's female star yeo yann yann is up for best leading actress at taiwan's prestigious golden horse awards — dubbed the "chinese oscars". she explains why she took the role. this is the second time i collaborated with anthony chen. we have great experience working together. when he invited me and asked me whether i wanted to be in wet but wet season i said even though he did not want to cast me. he had already casted someone else and to him we are like family.

so there is a little stitch in his heart. a family indeed. annual co—star played your son in an another anthony chen film in 2013 which was award—winning. how did you prepare for this film? a kid who is now your co—star? prepare for this film? a kid who is now your co-star? i have to thank the audience first. the audience really loved this mother and son and it has already become an iconic mother and son. so for the directors it was very difficult. kinda difficult for him. offscreen he called you mummy! since he was 11. and now when we were filming he was 18. was it awkward? it is not. the first time he was filming with me he was new, it was his first time so i helped him a little and said not to call him any other names, call me mummy. that was the first day when i met him. what about the issue of

women in film? asian women in particular. what kind of issues and challenges you face in the film industry? sorry? what issues do asian women facing the film industry? in the film industry. i think in asia, i mean, i can only speakfor think in asia, i mean, i can only speak for malaysia and singapore. think in asia, i mean, i can only speakfor malaysia and singapore. we do not have an industry yet. not a very big industry. it is small and emerging industry so there are maybe not enough films to be very productive as an actor. and we wish her the best of luck. she is up for the best actress award in the golden horse awards. you have been watching newsday. i'm kasia madera in london. and i'm rico hizon in singapore. stay with us. trade war winners. we meet the us farmers celebrating president trump's tariffs on chinese garlic.

for the time being, from all of us here, thank you for watching. most m ost pla ces most places a frost free at the moment because there is too much cloud around although over the next few days it will continue to get milder, day and night, but in the forecast. most of the rain today will be towards the south. and getting blown away i those brisk winds. great through the midlands through the south—east of england, brighter skies further north, a few showers towards the north—east of scotland. the highest temperature is where it turns wetter later in the day towards the south—west of england, may be double figures here. jumping into friday. more showers and a lot of cloud around on friday

but the potential for some wet weather to develop towards the west country, south—west of england and then into the west midlands and wales, though showers merging two long spells of rain that could be quite heavy. 7—9d in the north, double figures likely further south.

i'm kasia madera with bbc world news. now on bbc news — ask the leader: tonight it's the turn of jonatha n ba rtlety of the green party. good evening, welcome to wolverhampton and ask the leader

stop. the 2019 election is one of the most significant in your lifetime. voters have a chance to question one of the two leaders of the green party. about their promises to you. the audience have a wide range of political views. some support the green party come summer support the green party come summer support others and some are undecided. their views broadly reflect the way the country voted in the eu referendum. good evening. right, let's go straightaway to our audience. what is the point of voting green in birmingham. i've spoken to a lot of people who want to vote greens but they said the wasted vote. how are you going to convince people to vote greens?

every single green vote will send a message to westminster that we urgently and desperately need to change course. we have a once—in—a—lifetime literally opportunity to change direction and we have to do it now but we've seen over the last few years, people trying to fall over themselves. so what is the point of voting green? because it will. when you vote green, the other parties know they have to get those boats back. it's a huge influence. we've seen labour change their policies but they have started to shift in that direction. they won't deliver what is needed to secure our future. they won't deliver what is needed to tackle the climate emergency. only the green party ca n climate emergency. only the green party can tackle that existential

crisis. is it fair