welcome to bbc news — i'm maryam moshiri. our top stories: a deal‘s agreed on harry and meghan dropping royal duties — the couple lose their royal titles and public funding. president trump's lawyers give their first formal response to his impeachment — they say it's a brazen attempt by his rivals to interfere in the upcoming election. in the lebanese capital, hundreds are hurt in clashes between police and demonstrators — the worst day of violence since anti—government protests began three months ago. from fires to floods, scorched parts of australia's east coast are now battered by heavy rain and thunderstorms.

buckingham palace has announced the new arrangements for prince harry and his wife meghan, saying they'll no longer be working members of the royal family and will no longer use their titles of royal highness. harry and meghan will step back from royal duties, but will continue to be patrons of charities they've chosen to support. in a personal statement, queen elizabeth said she supports the couple's wish for a more independent life. this report from our royal correspondent nicolas witchell contains some flashing images. the deal has been done. they are walking away from the british monarchy. they will earn their own living and they will spend most of their time in north america. a man who was born to be royal will no longer style himself as his royal highness.

she will not call herself her royal highness. that hrh styling applies to full—time, working members of the british royal family which, come the spring, harry and meghan will no longer be. they are going with the best wishes of the queen. in a statement from buckingham palace, she said:. she added: the details of how their new life will work are comparatively sparse. it's clear many of them have still to be worked out. but here are the essentials. under the new arrangement, they are required to step back from royal duties, including official military appointments. so harry will have to give up his role as captain general of the royal marines, a role he took over from his grandfather.

they will no longer receive public funds for royal duties. they will still receive some funds from harry's father, the prince of wales, but they will be free to earn their own livings and there are no restrictions set out in the statement other than the need to continue to uphold the values of her majesty. it's as vague as that. they will keep frogmore cottage in windsor and they have shared their wish to repay sovereign grant expenditure for its refurbishment. they will pay a commercial rent when they use it. on security, there are no details of who will provide it or who will pay for it. so will these arrangements work? the fact that they are not going to be doing any of their, any royal work... is probably the best solution because then it makes a very clean break and everyone is clear about what they will be doing and there will be no blurred lines. i think this is a good solution. the royalfamily is putting

a brave face on it. but one must suppose there is great sadness and disappointment that it has come to this. one of the family's most popular members has had enough and has negotiated a clean breakfor a new life with his family. nicholas witchell, bbc news. royal commentator richard berthelsen has more on the view from canada. i think there is a degree of sadness amongst many people about this deal because it takes the sussexes out of the direct royal spotlight in terms of their duties, particularly prince harry's involvement with the military, and it starts us on a course that we are not really sure what is going to happen in the future. at the same time, i suspect there is some relief in official ottawa in particular, because this deal makes clear that the sussexes are not

going to be full—time working royals or represent the queen so i think will put the canadian situation in a better degree of clarity. they will be representing themselves and performing duties as celebrity royals rather than members of the royal family. what has been the reaction in canada? i'm sure the canadian press has been going crazy over it? it has been a big story, there have been other big stories, not least of which is the snowstorm you referred to earlier and the terrible tragic incident of the jet being shot down in tehran. but this has titillated many in parts of canada, particularly our west coast with the sussexes have formed a royal refuge on vancouver island near the city of victoria. there has been lots of speculation as to whether they would settle there or toronto where the duchess has enormous connections. there has been a lot of concern about whether or not canadians for royals being in the country on a full—time basis. we have a delicate situation

with many canadians not always understanding that they have a monarchy and that royals are their royals just as much of the uk but now it seems there is a bit of walking back from that and i suspect we would not be in a situation where we have to protect them on a 24/7 basis. it was interesting when the queen referred to the future and what harry and meghan would do. it was kept very vague except for the fact that she talked about the values, keeping the values that the queen holds dear. what does that actually mean, do you think? i think that's a really good question. that was one of the vaguer statements in this release that came out from the palace today. the values that many people associate with the queen are duty and loyalty to the institution and the commonwealth and it is not clear how they are going to discharge that. at the same time, one wonders if it means they are going to be careful about what they do and they are not going to bring dishonour or tackiness through some of the approaches they may choose

to grant financial independence, and i think so long as they focus on charitable issues and social causes, there are going to be many canadians that agree with that and will support them in that, and how this involves on our west coast will be watched closely. if, for us, there's simply a short refuge on the way to the united states, there might be a dimmer view taken of that here. in other news: president trump's legal team has set out its response to the impeachment charges against him, saying they violate the constitution and fail to show that any law was broken. a 6—page document issued by his lawyers argues that next week's trial in the senate amounts to a dangerous attack on the american people. the bbc‘s washington correspondent ben wright says president trump's lawyers will argue it's an attempt to interfere in this year's presidential election. i think there is a degree of sadness amongst many people about this deal they had to do this. it was a demand of the senate in these early days before

the trial kicks off on tuesday, they had to sketch out their legal argument and for months president trump has railed on social media and elsewhere about what he sees as an unjust and unfair impeachment process, one that has been under way on capitol hill and he now has to put down his defence in writing. they are essentially arguing that they think the two impeachment articles, one alleging an abuse of power and the second, obstructing congress, are constitutionally and legally invalid. theyjust do not stand up to scrutiny and his lawyers are arguing there is nothing in these impeachment articles that says he has done anything wrong or illegal. the do not dispute some of the basic facts of this, that he made a telephone call with the president of the ukraine back injuly in which they spoke about launching an investigation intojoe biden and his son hunter and military aid was withheld. but they say there was no quid pro quo, it was not a deal there was no threat made and that is precisely what house democrats who are prosecuting this case do say which is why they think this clearly crosses the bar when it comes to impeachment

and they hope to remove donald trump from office. let's get some of the day's other news. thousands of people have held a protest in the argentine capital, buenos aires to demand justice in the case of the mysterious death of a prosecutor, alberto nisman. mr nisman was found shot dead in his apartment five years ago. canada's federal government has approved emergency assistance to help people in newfoundland recover from a record— breaking snowstorm. the blizzard dumped more than 75cm of snow on the newfoundland capital, stjohn‘s. with less than a week to go until lunar new year, the chinese city of xi'an has opened its annual lantern festival. many of the lanterns featured rats — the symbol of the coming year in the chinese zodiac. the lebanese capital beirut has seen its worst violence since anti—establishment street protests began three months ago. the red cross says 220 people were injured as riot police fought running

battles with demonstrators for several hours. banks were vandalised and at least one protest camp was set on fire. the lebanese president, michel aoun, has called on the army to restore calm. lina sinjab reports from beirut. it is getting violent in beirut. for days, angry protesters have taken to the streets, blocking roads and attacking banks in central beirut. with political deadlock and no government in place, the banks continue to limit cash withdrawals for clients, allowing them in some cases just $50 a week, a reality that has left many furious on the street. and now, this is the scene. stones versus tear gas and water cannons. people are angry about the government's perceived

incompetence and their political elite. despite brief smaller protests over the holiday period, it seems things have gotten worse. security forces have been detaining many protesters which, in turn, has pushed more people onto the street. and the politicians are not moving. hassan diab has been appointed as a prime minister from the former government but many see him as incapable of forming a technocrat parliament that would appease the demands of the people. with the economic situation deteriorating, protesters anger is likely to get worse. habib battah is editor of the online news site beirutreport.com. he explained why the protests had turned violent. we've seen a lot of outbursts of violence across the three months of protest, unprecedented processed in the benign ‘s history. but tonight is definitely an uptick in that. the protester frustrated because it has been over three months there is no answer from the government as to, is that going to be change in the country? will they be new elections? will we have a new government?

have not come true and meanwhile, there has been a lot of pressure on the lebanese people, because there have been more power cuts than ever, the banks in lebanon are not giving money out, they have been issuing capital controls, a few hundred dollars a week or a month in some cases. people are fed up, they are feeling the pressure and tonight we saw a group of several hundred protesters fighting with the police, if the situation continues like this in lebanon, people aren't getting money, not being able to pay their bills, we could see a lot more people on the street in the future. with scenes like this, why is it do you think that the government is so frozen? what is it that installing right now? it is hard to say because the government in lebanon on is notoriously not transparent. this whole process of government formation is shrouded in secrecy.

we are not given any details about the names until they are announced or are leaked to the press but there were some names leaked and it's believed these individuals were actually tied to political parties in one of the main demands has been a breakfrom lebanese political system, a breakfrom the lebanese political parties who they see as corrupt and because the last 30 years of corruptions, they have become little parties in the postwar period and there's a that these parties are lying to the protesters and they're trying to sneak in their representatives into this new government. people are very angry about that and they are angry about so many things. we've even heard that the internet might be cut in lebanon because the government is failing to pay the phone before the internet in the country, a few million dollars. the government is incapable at this point of doing the most basic governance tasks. do you think the drafting in of the army is a significant escalation in all this? i mean, compared to other countries, there have been a lot of injuries,

a lot of police brutality in lebanon but there hasn't been a lot of death so far and so the military seems to be kind of a symbolic move. people find the military more popular than the riot police. we saw this evening, videos showing them beating protesters without any instigation at some points. beating people in police vans, police say they are investigating that, and the military is seen more trustworthy but they have also engaged in some very rough tactics so the politicians in the country seem to be up against the wall. they've never experienced anything like this before. lebanon the last 30 or a0 years, it's been a very deliberate structure in which militias have shared power at the expense of the public who has seen the living conditions deteriorate as we see millionaires and billionaires in our parliament. there is a lot of fear out there of what could happen

because people are very attached. some people are attached to this regime. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: yemen's rivals battle over banknotes: new currency is the latest contention in the country's civil war. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first. america first. demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set up on by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him ‘the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans wants to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france.

there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot. a tide of humanity. it is believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: the queen says prince harry and meghan will lose their royal titles and public funding. they'll also pay back taxpayers‘ money used to renovate their home. president trump's lawyers give their first formal response to his impeachment. they say it's a brazen attempt by his rivals to interfere in the upcoming election. thousands of women gathered in several cities in the us in what has become an annual national women's march. the demonstrations brought together long—time marchers and new demonstrators, including student activists who said the upcoming election inspired them to participate. gail maclellan reports.

it was cold, it was wet and even snowed in new york. justice! but for the fourth year running, women marched through american cities. on the agenda, the rights, immigration reform and, of course, donald trump. hey, hey. ho, ho. donald trump has got to go! the numbers have declined since the first march, held a day after president trump was inaugurated in 2017. that was the largest single they protest in american history. but organisers say their focus is on quality, not quantity. a sea of placards and a wave of issues, mainly in support of democratic residential candidates.

thank you, susan. evelyn yang, the wife of candidate andrew gant, urged protesters to rise and raw, citing her own experience as a survivor of sexual assault. we need to do better. for our mothers, for our daughters, for our sisters and for eve ryo ne daughters, for our sisters and for everyone who loves them. we need to roar against sexual violence. cheering and applause. well organised but not a seamless operation. internal divisions have dogged the leadership of the marchers but the protesters are loyal, energetic and committed. marchers but the protesters are loyal, energetic and committedm is an important issue and if you do not participate and you do not let people know what this is about and you do not tell people what you are thinking a change will come if you do not tell the public what is on your mind. this is what democracy looks like! gail maclellan, bbc news. in yemen, as the internal conflict continues between the internationally recognised government and houthi rebels, a new level of economic warfare has been announced by the houthis. they‘ re encouraging their supporters

to stop using banknotes produced by the government and only deal in older banknotes, effectively creating a two—currency system in the country. rich preston has this report. one country, two sets of banknotes — the old ones and the new ones. the ones you use depend on which side of the civil war you sit. on saturday, the houthi rebels outlawed the crisp new currency in the areas they control, which includes the capital sanaa. only the old currency can be used. but yemenis in government—controlled areas, like the southern port of aden, only the new currency is valid. the houthis, who are backed by iran, say this move is to tackle escalating inflation and rampant money—printing by the government. the government, backed by its regional ally saudi arabia, calls it "economic vandalism".

translation: the decision taken by the houthis is 100% correct and we support it and call for its full implementation. translation: the houthis took this decision and did not consider the economic cost to society. it has affected people's trading and was done forcefully. yemen's civil war has lasted more than five years and is thought to have killed more than 10,000 people, and pushed millions to the brink of starvation. while the warring factions have found ammunition in banknotes instead of bombs, many say ordinary yemenis will be the hardest hit by this new tactic, unable to buy basic supplies or simply be paid in a currency they can use. australian open organisers are confident the tournament will start and finish on time, despite continuing health concerns over melbourne's air quality from bushfires in the country. some players have complained about having to play qualifying matches in smoky conditions.

meanwhile, people in melbourne were advised to stay indoors and keep pets inside. on tuesday, slovenia's dalila jakupovic had to be helped off court when she retired from her qualifying match because of the unhealthy air quality. here she is talking about that moment earlier this week. i have no asthma or breathing problems. i never experienced something like this like i had yesterday. i mean, it was really scary. i couldn't breathe. i did not know what to do. i had the feeling like i'm going to collapse on the court and i was really scared, i have to say. the whole match was tough for me to breathe, to get some fresh air, to get some air at all, so, yeah, it was tough conditions. we can talk live now to tennis journalist lucia hoff, who has been following the controversy closely from new york, and will be flying out to melbourne in a couple of days.

yes, that's right. what are you expecting to find there? this is highly unusual for this event obviously to take place in these conditions and they have been so many complaints already, haven't they? yes, but i think the big thing is they have been getting a break and the air quality seems to be better so those are good news so i expect next week to... i think it will be in ok week, i think it will probably be more with the rain than the air quality, at least we hope, right? absolutely. we have had one qualifier, we heard just there, talking about it, coming off and, you know, not being able to carry on because of the quality of air. yes, it was very... it was a very surprising decision, you know, i tennis australia. like, everybody, you know, was asked to stay indoors, you know, was asked to stay indoors, you know? the air quality was really

bad. and then they did they do something right, they did postpone a little bit, you know, they cancel the practice in the morning on tuesday and then but then they let the much start and, you know, it seems that the air quality wasn't, you know, good enough, you know, according to, you know, you know, what we saw online and the other agencies. but, you know, tennis australia has been, you know, they they really have been saying but listen, we're following, we know what doing, and you know, we thought they should play but, you know, we saw, you know, in the case of this player, you know, she could not breathe, you know, she fell on the court, and then there are other players, you know, but we saw, you know, being connected by this condition, you know, we saw bernard

tomic and, you know, you know, asking for inhalers and, you know, on the second day i think on tuesday we saw, you know, another player who saidi we saw, you know, another player who said i have never had to use an inhaler in my life, you know, and then, you know, he needed one, so, it was a little complicated so a little scary. yes, absolutely. thank you so much forjoining us. the devastating bushfires in australia have highlighted the potential dangers of climate change. grapes are very sensitive to their environment and now, a team of french and new zealand scientists are trying to work out how vineyards should be managed in an age of climate change. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. just north of christchurch is the waipara valley. they have been growing wine here for decades. but it is an industry, like so many others, facing a serious long—term challenge — our planet's changing climate. these scientists are trying to work out exactly how the grapes in these vineyards will be affected, and what will they do with that information.

advice on how to manage a canopy, manage pruning, to adjust the developmental time of the vine and long—term strategies. when might you need to consider changing your varieties, or changing your root stocks or changing where you plant your vines? when it comes to growing wine, the climate is a key factor. different temperatures can lead to different tastes. too much heat, for instance, may impair the flavour. analysing potential weather patterns can have a practical impact on how the grapes are grown. we would hope that over time, we understand the variation between seasons and within seasons. we would hope that that would enable us to then set the vineyard up in the best possible way to achieve our optimum yield and good quality wine.

you can reach me on twitter. i'm @bbcmaryam. thank you for your company here on bbc news. goodbye for now. hello. it's bitterly cold out and about. it looks like it will be the coldest night of the winter so far. and frost, ice and increasingly patchy fog will feature in the forecast for the next few days. in fact, with some sunshine and a lot of dry weather as well, though the sunshine will tend to fade as these weak weather fronts come around our area of high pressure and bring more cloud with them. but for the most part, it's dry, some showers lingering in the far north and west of scotland and some rain and sleet is coming into eastern parts of england, especially east anglia. so with a widespread frost, —5 or —6 in the countryside, obviously ice will be a concern, especially where we have had the showers, but it has been so damp. freezing fog, especially in the likes of the severn valley up

through the welsh marches, the cheshire plains, not exclusively here, parts of northern ireland and scotland as well, it will struggle to lift. for most of us, it is dry, plenty of sunshine, mostly hazy in the north with the approach of this weather front. temperatures should get to about average where we clear the fog. some bright and crisp sunshine. however, we do pull in more cloud and a stronger breeze and a little bit of rain for the far north of scotland, the northern isles, and that cloud will tend to hang around as we go through sunday night and into monday, which means if we run the temperature profile through the night, the drop in temperature, it will not get quite as cold through tonight, sunday night into monday, as it does again, harsh frost for many of us further south. again, freezing fog. that is going to be a concern for the morning rush hour on monday. with patches around, being patchy makes it more dangerous if you are travelling. watch out for that in the coming mornings, including this morning. monday looks like another day, once that clears, bright weather but pretty cold.

more cloud will thicken up across scotland and northern ireland, with the approach of this weather front, which will bring a little bit of a drizzly rain in through tuesday. nothing significant because that high will come back again for the rest of the week. so monday, yes, it looks like another cold night come monday into tuesday across many southern and central areas, but we do get some rain for the far north of scotland, but look how it peters out as it sinks south. introducing more cloud for the day on tuesday to central areas. brighter skies following, brighter but cold with patchy fog towards the south as well. basically, with high pressure on top of us, apart from that weather front and the odd shower around through this morning, it does look like a largely dry picture until the end of next weekend. goodbye.

this is bbc news, the headlines:

buckingham palace announces details of prince harry and meghan‘s new status — as they step back from being senior royals. the couple will stop using their royal highness titles and will receive no public funds for royal duties. lawyers for president trump issue their first formal response to his impeachment saying it is an attack on the american people. a six page letter describes the charges as unconstitutional and a brazen attempt by his rivals to interfere in the upcoming presidential election. the lebanese capital beirut has seen its worst violence since anti—government protests began three months ago. the red cross says more than two hundred people have been injured. those are the headlines on bbc news. businesses are warning of price rises,