good afternoon. the queen has attended church near sandringham this morning following the agreement with the duke and duchess of sussex that they'll step down from royal duties. the queen has said she supports prince harry and megan's decision to lead a more independent life away from what she called the ‘intense scrutiny‘ they've faced. under the agreement, their hrh titles will be dropped and they will no longer receive public funding. here's our royal correspondent daniela relph. the queen at church near sandringham this morning after what must have been

a difficult time for her, both as monarch and as a grandmother. just behind her, her son the duke of york, whose own stepping back from royal duties has been an added strain for the queen in weeks. i think families are always a problem and i think she's dealt with it incredibly well. ijust think it's a shame. and it's a shame with the little one as well. yeah, for the whole family it's a shame, william, charles, everybody. as long as we are not paying for the lifestyle they hope to live, then i don't have a problem with that. and from the prime minister there was backing for the couple's plans. i think the whole country wants to join in wishing them the very best, i said before that i was sure that royal family has been around a very long time, will find our way forward and i'm sure it will. cheering.

big decisions had been made in recent days. these royal walkabout will be no more for harry and meghan as their life as working roayls ends. palace officials say the couple now wish to pay back public money spent on their home in windsor. they will also pay commercial rent on frogmore cottage. there is a quid pro quo in this relationship between the royal family and the public and the taxpayer and they were not playing the game and i think the fact they have acknowledged that and they're handing back that money makes everything right again. so canada will be home for most of the year. immigration rules mean that harry as a british citizen can stay in canada for six months at a time on a visa. the status of meghan‘s application for british citizenship is unclear, especially as most of her time is spent outside the uk, and details of the couple's new security arrangements will not be made public. from meghan‘s estranged father there was a harsh assessment of the choices his daughter

and her husband had made. every young woman wants to become a princess and she got that and now she's tossing that away for, it looks like she's tossing it away for money. i think both of them are turning into lost souls at this point. the plans for harry and meghan now could serve as a blueprint for future generations of royals if it works, and that will be assessed by senior members of the royal family in a year's time. in the coming weeks harry will carry out some final royal engagements. it will feel like a goodbye as harry and meghan move to a new country and begin to carve out a new life for themselves beyond the royal family. daniela relph, bbc news, buckingham palace. borisjohnson has joined the german chancellor angela merkel and the presidents of russia, france and turkey at a summit in berlin aimed at bringing peace to libya. the united nations wants to halt the flow of foreign weapons and troops into the country, where libya's internationally recognised government is being challenged by general khalifa haftar

and his libyan national army. our europe correspondent jenny hill is in berlin. what are the chances of an agreement? well, you know, the situation in libya is so volatile, so situation in libya is so volatile, so complicated that officials here in berlin consider it an achievement, simply to have got all the key players together in the city. security is you can imagine is extremely tight in the city now. we have the un recognises as the libyan prime minister but also general khalifa haftar, but crucial to the stocks orforeign khalifa haftar, but crucial to the stocks or foreign powers like russia, turkey, the united arab emirates who have been backing the rival factions, emirates who have been backing the rivalfactions, sending them money, troops and weapons. today ‘s summit aims to stop foreign involvement and

to create at some point, a lasting ceasefire and it has to be said expectations are very low, because the situation is so difficult. but you know it's becoming a pressing concern in capitals like berlin because it's feared here at the situation worsens europe could experience a rise in the number of people coming in to try and seek asylu m people coming in to try and seek asylum here. it is a concern they say that the situation could exacerbate islamist terrorism in northern africa and that's why one official said to me, if they can at the very least today frees the current situation, that in itself would be cause for celebration. thank you very much. people suspected of stalking in england and wales could be ordered to stop contacting or approaching their alleged victims while they are being investigated. from tomorrow, investigating officers will be able to apply to magistrates for a stalking protection order even before someone is charged with any offence. anyone breaching their order could face up to five years in prison. charlotte gallagher has more.

the global superstar rihanna and the hollywood actors john cusack and sandra bullock, just some of the high—profile victims of stalking. this kind of harassment usually only makes the headlines when celebrities are involved but it's frighteningly common. in england and wales, one in five women and one in ten men will experience stalking at some point in their life. in 2014, i was almost murdered by an ex partner. i'd ended the relationship and he was starting to stalk me so i was being harassed, stalked, he was contacting me on all sorts of platforms. and this was hundreds of times a day. tomorrow, police gain new powers to tackle stalking. they will be able to apply for court orders which will ban suspects from contacting or approaching their alleged victims, while officers are investigating. if suspects breach the order,

they could be jailed for up to five yea rs. it's a good step. and the fact that they hold a criminal sentence if they are breached is good. the minister for women visiting a helpline for stalking victims. what's your experience staff here are on the front line of the problem. these are really ground—breaking orders that the police will be able to apply for to protect victims of stalking but also to make sure that the perpetrators are getting the treatment programmes and so on that they need to break the cycle of abuse and stalking. it's hoped these new powers will prevent cases like alice ruggles. she was murdered by an ex—boyfriend who had been stalking her. alice's family say these court orders could have made a critical difference. charlotte gallagher, bbc news. the areas of australia worst hit by bushfires are now at risk

of flash flooding and power cuts as a result of rain storms. in the state of victoria — many of the fires have been put out by the storms which have also seen property damaged by giant hailstones — asjohn mcmanus reports. australians have been praying for rain but they weren't expecting this deluge from the heavens. a downpour of hailstones in melbourne in the middle of the australian summer. after months of high temperatures which fuelled hundreds of bushfires, the weather has turned dramatically. the country's bureau of meteorology has issued storm warnings for the state of victoria but there is no way to predict hailstones of this size. this birthday party abandoned because of the sudden onslaught as people huddled together for shelter. the hail was so intense it was able to shatter corrugated roofs. and this is a cricket pitch. play not surprisingly abandoned.

such a freak storm. i was watching television, i went into the bedroom and ijust looked out the window and the gumtree, which is two storeys high, just disappeared. there were some lucky escapes. so mum and dad were on their way back from lunch with relatives today. and they've just come through this area and a storm has just gone whack and a tree fell down on the front of their car. but there could be more to come in the next 2a hours. john mcmanus, bbc news. in cricket south africa are battling to prevent england taking a 2—1 series lead on the fourth day of the third test in port elizabeth. a few moments ago south africa were 36 for 2 still trailing england by 254 runs. england had a dream start. they took four wickets for one run. fast bowler stuart broad got three in quick succession leaving south africa 290 runs adrift of england's first

innings total of 499. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel. the next news on bbc one is at 5.40. bye for now. hello, you're watching the bbc news channel with ben brown. back now to our top story and from the spring, the duke and duchess of sussex will start new lives away from royal duties and without public funds after reaching an agreement with buckingham palace. the queen has described it as a "constructive and supportive way forward". earlier, i spoke to the royal journalist, victoria murphy. i think it is interesting some people suggesting harry and meghan have got what they wanted

but actually we know they did not get what they want, because they posted what they wanted on their website ten days ago which was very different to the solution we have today and it is clear that over the course of these negotiations they have had to give on certain things. so what did they not get that they did want? they did not get the opportunity to continue to carry out some royal duties, they were looking at the possibilities of a half in, half out option where they, at times, represented the queen overseas, they retained roles within the commonwealth, they retain some status as working roles but then they also operated autonomously, that is what they outlined. however, it is clear that was not going to work and people felt that not was palatable. it became very apparent very quickly when they outlined that proposal that it was not realistic and i think this is a much more realistic proposition. clearly when you negotiate, what you want most is the thing you stick with and they have stuck with their freedom and they will not

be using their hrh titles, they are not going to be representing the queen, they are not going to be carrying out royal duties. harry has stepped back from his official military appointments but in exchange they keep their freedom and the ability to operate autonominously and that is clearly what was important to them. what do you think they are going to do with that freedom? how much of the time are they gonna be in canada and how much time be doing commercial work, some would say trading on the royal family? this frees them up to be a lot freeer than if they had any kind this frees them up to be a lot freer than if they had any kind of formal association as working royals, that is what they wanted and clearly what had to happen for them to be free to operate autonomously within their foundation. we are told at the moment they will be splitting their time between north america and the uk, suggestions that they will be spending most of the time in north america. they are free from the spring

when this comes into effect and the sky will be the limit. they are this hugely high profile royal couple. they could earn loads of money doing any number of things. they made clear they will continue to uphold the values set by the queen and as we heard, this is a test of their integrity because as nothing formal holding them to that. this is about them deciding what they are going to do. the question mark is over the use of sussex royal because they will not be using his and her royal highness, that has been made very clear. again the suggestion it would not be palatable if they were to brand themselves as royal highnesses operating autonomously privately. however, sussex royal as a name, there is a question mark. we have not had an answer on whether they will use that for the foundation moving forward. what about the money side? so they are paying back that £2.4 million, which i think for quite a lot of people has caused a bit of rancour, the fact

that was taxpayers money spent on renovating their home. they are going to pay that back. from a pr point of view is that a good thing? it was the right decision because they said initially they wanted to be free from public funding. however there were big question marks over how they could do that with the set up they were proposing. they were proposing to still carry out royal tours which are funded with public money. they have taken all those things away and when it came to frogmore cottage it was renovated at taxpayers expense on the premise it would be their official residence for many years to come while they carried out their duties as working lives. that will not happen now so they have made what is the right decision as far as public perception's concerned to pay that money back. we are told, it was asked, would they pay commercial rent? the answer given was yes.

earlier asked why that would be the case, that residence was given to them as an official residence, if you look at kensington palace for example, william and kate do not pay rent because they are working royals, someone like princess eugenie who we understand has an apartment there, she does. even though she's a member of the family, she has a private life so she pays her rent to live there. one last question, some people are saying it's quite a good thing, you are ending up with a slimmed down monarchy which is what other monarchies around europe have. maybe that is the way of the future. yes, to a certain extent, and there was a conversation around this at the time as negotiations began as to, is this part of the slimmed down monarchy, is this part of the future? however, i think the queen's statement they issued when they had the meeting at sandringham made it very clear that is not what this is about. she said in that statement that the family would have liked them to have continued being working royals and there was always a place for harry even in a potentially slimmed down monarchy. he is one of the future king's two sons. and i think there was always a big place for harry and meghan

in the future of the monarchy and things like their commonwealth roles on the world stage, so actually, this is about a couple who have been very unhappy and made a personal decision to prioritise their freedom. more now on the news that suspected stalkers could be stopped from contacting or approaching their alleged victims, while they're being investigated. from tomorrow, police in england and wales will be able to apply to magistrates for a stalking protection 0rder before someone is charged. let's speak to campaigner sam taylor, who runs sussex stalking support, a victim support group. thank you for being with us. do you welcome this move? i do, it is an excellent move. what victims of stalking need more than anything is protection. and it needs to be nipped in the bud really early on andi nipped in the bud really early on and i suppose with that in mind,

what concerns me and diane not suggesting that it has a bad move then anyway, it is a really positive move. “— then anyway, it is a really positive move. —— i am not suggesting. it concerns me whether stocking will be recognised early enough because u nfortu nately recognised early enough because unfortunately since we change the law, there has not been the investment in training we would have liked and unfortunately, stalking still continues not to be taken seriously. things are improving very slowly. there are improvements but it still isn't being recognised to the level it really should be. the idea of these stocking protection orders is that this will be a restraining order placed on them. because this could go on for several months where the police are investigating someone and in that

time, the victim might feel very intimidated? definitely full in that senseit intimidated? definitely full in that sense it is such a good move and as they have said, if they breach the order, there is the potentialfor up to five years in prison. but we also need to see those breaches being taken seriously as well. do you think the law on stalking is gradually getting tougher and tougher? and this is something society and the authorities are really taking seriously now and acting more firmly against?” really taking seriously now and acting more firmly against? i think it's starting to happen. but it is not happening, actions for stalkers are not, it is not robust enough, even now. what else would you like to see put in place they are?|j think one of the things, because u nfortu nately think one of the things, because unfortunately when we campaigned to make stalking a law, we campaigned for it to be separate to harassment

and that was not the case, it was put in under the protection from harassment act. and therefore, that has caused some confusion about the difference between stalking and harassment and what we need to be really clear about is stalking is an extremely dangerous behaviour, which is fixated and obsessive and can lead to murder. and often does. so,... this is where training needs to come in. so that people can understand the differences but also we need... what was i going to say? let me ask you this, i wanted to know, you are saying about it being obsessive behaviour by the perpetrator, but for the victim of stalking, it is obviously psychologically terrifying, isn't it? it is and the impact, we have clients we support who have been

stocked up to ten years and even though it is taking seriously at the end, we have one person where her stalker was only charged with six months of that ten year period of stalking so we have got to be recognising the impact of victims because even when the stalking finishes, when someone has been terrorised for months and sometimes yea rs, terrorised for months and sometimes years, that impact stays with them. very good to talk to you, thank you for your time. a mass protest is being organised in the lake district over complaints that the area is becoming more like a "theme park" than a national park. hundreds of people are expected to meet in the village of grasmere next month to oppose plans for houseboats, zip wires and tarmac paths. but the authorities say their concerns are unfounded, as peter marshall reports.

it's obvious why many are protective of the lake district's landscapes — its unesco world heritage site world famous, like the grand canyon or machu picchu. but some believe now is the time for one of the biggest protests the national park has seen. we've had people coming up to a saying enough‘s enough, to us saying enough‘s enough, it's just got to stop. andy astle, a retired postman who's lived in grasmere for nearly 50 years, says matters have been brought to a head by the latest plans to moor ten 40 foot yachts on grasmere. plans to moor ten 40 foot the danger is we are going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. people come to the lake district for the beauty of the surroundings, not for a pleasure park. you know, there's plenty of places for that, the blackpools, morecambes, alton towers. here, yeah, we move with the times but we've got to maintain the beauty. the company behind the grasmere boat plans says they'd be recreational launchers, not houseboats, and provide a welcome attraction. the houseboats 0ff grasmere campaign is the latest in a series of controversies.

there's been anger over 4x4 vehicles using remote lanes in the park and plans for zip wires, tarmac trails and a ski lift have led to calls for a day of activism against such developments. the protest will take place on saturday february the ist and the organisers have lofty ambitions. they say it could be the biggest protest concerning protection of public spaces that the lake district has ever seen. local mp tim farron says he understands the concerns. he is calling for balance. for much of the lake district, there is that very kind of commercial set of activities, nightlife, lots of things for the family during the day and that's a good thing. that's part of the lake district experience. what we don't want to do is to let that creep into the more tranquil parts of the lake district, so you undo the other part of the deal, which is that quiet, that peace, that calm. in a statement, the lake district national park authority says:.

snow storms have overwhelmed parts of canada and the us as authorities advise many residents to stay home and stay safe. social media showed people had begun to literally dig out of their homes after snowdrifts blocked their doorways. tiffany sweeney reports. wind howls. the most easterly part of canada, newfoundland in labrador, has declared a state of emergency, as blizzards took over the city. the storm dumped as much as 30 inches of snow. officials in the capital, stjohn's, ordered businesses to close and vehicles off the roads due to extreme weather conditions.

prime ministerjustin trudeau said canada's public safety minister was in touch with authorities and monitoring the storm. he said, "we're ready to help if needed." from the look of abandoned roads, most people stayed inside voluntarily. some are getting ahead by shovelling, to make less work when it's all over. the state of emergency has forced one local taxi company to take its vehicles off the road for the first time in its history. 0ne resident shared this incredible video of his garage door being lifted, only to find a wall of snow the other side. officers say they are on call and available to respond to emergencies in the capital, and to prepare for power outages — keep flashlights and food and water on hand. tiffany sweeney, bbc news. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's holly.

cricket going very well indeed? england's cricketers are trying to wrap up the third test against south africa inside four days. they made a stunning start, removing the home side's last four wickets forjust one run, inside 25 minutes. that left them 290 runs behind, so they were forced to follow on, and after a rain delay, mark wood took two wickets. south africa now 38—2, still a long way off england's first innings score of 499. it'll be interesting to see how the saracens players respond, after the news that the side will be relegated at the end of the season for breaching salary cap rules. they're playing racing 92 for a place in the quarterfinals of the european champions cup — they're leading at the moment. it's been a stressful few months for the fans too. here's what a few of them had to say today. scotland's women have beaten spain by 31—12 in their test match in almeria. it was 12 points all when hannah smith sprinted half

the length of the field to go over for the second time. and scotland never looked back from there, scoring seven tries in all, including one for molly wright on her international debut. it took manchester city women less than a minute to take the lead in their wsl match at birmingham city. none of the birmingham players got a touch on the ball before jill scott sent in a low cross for her england team—mate ellen white to put away — scoring against her former club. if city win, they'll go level on points with arsenal at the top, before they play their fellow—londoners chelsea later. lee westwood survived a nervy finish at golf‘s abu dhabi championship, to win his first title for 14 months. he started the final round just one shot ahead and after some low scoring from the chasing pack, he needed a par at the last to win — and he birdied it to make sure,

closing with a round of 67 and finishing two shots clear. the weather has well and truly turned in melbourne, with the australian open starting at midnight our time. the air quality has improved but organisers have other things to worry about now, as our tennis correspondent russell fuller reports. sunday has been a beautiful day in melbourne but are thunderstorms in the way in the forecast for the opening date is for heavy rain, it could cause havoc with the schedule on the outside courts but not many people in australia will be complaining about the arrival of the rain after the terrible bushfires that have ravaged the country. three courts with roots, so the show will go on, including the match between venus williams and coco gauff, 39 against 15, can she win as she did in the first round of wimbledon on the number one court? ash is australia's, three british players,

including dan evans and johanna konta. that is very much whether permitting. the air is absolutely fine, doesn't look cricket will cause a headache for the organisers in the opening few days. the ufc‘s conor mcgregor made his return to the octagon in style, beating his opponent donald cowboy cerrone in 40 seconds flat. the knockout victory in vegas was his first fight since losing to khabib nurmagomedov in october 2018 and mcgregor now says a rematch with the russian is "inevitable". despite his stunning win overnight, the irishman says he still has some work to do. that opening might have been my ring rust so to speak, you know, because a little bit too eager and then when i did knock him down, i may have rushed the opening shots and then i reset, control the head, step to the side and land the stoppage blows, so that would be what being out

of the cage for 15 months looks like. so, there's still work to be done, we correct, we add and correct and move on. the masters snooker final is under way. stuart bingham against ali carter — they're still in the opening frame. you can follow it on the bbc sport website, as well as over on bbc two. now it's time for a look at the weather with stav. good afternoon. part two of the weekend brings another glorious sunny day for many of us, very cold start with some frost and also some fog around, that fog could be slow to clear, it might not clear at all in parts of north—west england, in towards the west midlands, aware of that, will be chilly where it holds on but lots of sunshine elsewhere. more in way of cloud for some of

scotland, milder, 10 degrees in stornoway, a little bit of rain for the northern isles but most places chilly and dry. very strong area of high pressure dominating as we go sunday into monday, more isobars, a wea ker sunday into monday, more isobars, a weaker weather front to the north of the uk so here it is going to be less cool to start monday, the green colours there but elsewhere further south under clear skies, another career start with force, perhaps some list fog to. a cold day, but the cloud further north and you can see as we head through the week it should stay largely dry, variable cloud and sunshine at times.