prince harry makes clear his disappointment at the outcome of royal talks about his and meghan‘s future. he makes his first public statement since his decision to step back as a senior royal. our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations, but without public funding. unfortunately, that wasn't possible. we'll be looking at what harry had to say and what the future is likely to hold for him now. also tonight: one of britain's oldest department stores, beales, goes into administration — 1,000 jobs could go. how hs2 could end up costing three times the orginal estimate and may not go further than birmingham. three men have been stabbed to death during a fight in east london — the police describe it as horrific. and the england rugby coach,

eddie jones, speaks out about the saracen‘s paycap scandal. and coming up on bbc news... history repeats itself in melbourne as the american teenager coco gauff knocks venus williams out of the first round at the australian open. good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. prince harry has made his disappointment clear at the outcome of the palace discussions over his decision to step back as a senior royal. he said he and meghan had hoped to continue serving the queen and his military associations but "unfortunately, that wasn't possible." in his first first speech about his future at a charity event last night,

he added he was sad it had come to this, but it was a sign of the pressures he was feeling that he chose to step back from all he'd ever known "in search of a more peaceful life". 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports — and a warning, this report does contain flash photography. he is still on official duty. this morning, harry was the royal presence at a british government summit on africa, a continent he cares deeply about. are you looking forward to the next chapter, sir? he had a meeting with the british prime minister and several african leaders. it seemed like business as usual, but, of course, it wasn't. last night, at a private dinner for sentebale, the hiv charity he co—founded in southern africa, he relaxed with friends and explained the decisions he's made about his future. it was very personal, it was very harry. i want you to hear the truth from me, as much as i can share, not as a prince or a duke but as harry, the same person that many of you have watched grow up over the past 35 years but now with a clearer perspective.

the uk is my home and a place that i love. that will never change. he recalled that, at the time of their wedding, he and meghan were excited, hopeful and ready to serve, but the pressure of public scrutiny had been too much. he wanted to find a way to combine continued service with greater freedom and it was a matter, he said, of great sadness that it had come to this. our hope was to continue serving the queen, the commonwealth and my military associations but without public funding. unfortunately, that wasn't possible. i've accepted this, knowing that it doesn't change who i am or how committed i am, but i hope that helps you understand what it had come to, that i would step my family back from all i have ever known to take a step forward into what i hope can be a more peaceful life.

it's 14 years since harry set up the sentebale charity in lesotho in tribute to the work of his late mother. it combined his love of africa with his natural affinity for young people. the charity's leaders, who heard harry speak last night, say they've no doubt he will continue with his work. whether he is called the duke, hrh or whatever, orjust harry, as he said last night when he spoke as harry, he can shine a light on this issue and do a lot of good for us and for the children that, you know, our charity tries to serve. a period of transition has begun. harry and megan must work out their new life and the rest of the royal family must adjust, too, to official life without them. the duchess of cornwall was visiting a hospice in swindon. will you miss harry and meghan? of course. in seeking a new life, they are taking a leap of faith, as harry put it last night.

it may well be more challenging to him that it will be for her, which is why the door is being left open, just in case it doesn't work out. nicholas witchell is at buckingham palace. harry clearly has regrets, presumably there'll be regrets on the palace side? yes, very considerable regrets and sadness in the palace at the situation and incidentally we believe that harry left on a flight for canada a short time ago. so regrets at the over all situation, but i don't sense there are doubts oi’ but i don't sense there are doubts or second thoughts about the uncompromising position the palace took. there is a feeling i think that the ambition expressed by the sussexes to achieve a new role within the royal family, which they set out in their statement, was not

fully throughout through and was naive and influenced by people across the atlantic who don't understand how the monarchy works and there is concern of reputational damage to the royal family and i don't think there is any doubts that they were right in taking the position they did. 0ne unresolved matter, the trade mark sussex royal and whether it is appropriate to have the word royal in there, given the strategy is to remove them from royal life. the talks on that, i understand, are still continuing. thank you. one of britain's oldest department stores, beales, has gone into administration, after failing to find a buyer. the chain, which began trading in bournemouth in 1881, employs about 1,000 people in 23 stores. it's understood that none of the shops will close immediately and it will continue trading for the time being. our business correspondent

emma simpson reports. beales. it's been on this same spot for nearly 140 years. a cornerstone of bournemouth‘s high street. and also in other provincial towns, from bedford to beccles in suffolk and southport in merseyside. but beales failed to move with the times. it's very sad, it's part of our childhood. you know, we both grew up locally and it's always been here and we work locally and it was somewhere we came frequently. but we haven't been for a long time. i think it's another nail in the coffin for bournemouth high street because once a store like this goes, who's going to take it? this business was losing money and looking for a buyer. then christmas brought all its long—running problems to a head. beales is the first big casualty of weak festive trading, but it was also grappling with high rents and huge business rates bills.

it's another sign ofjust how much pressure our retailers are under, especially these big department stores. just a few doors down, there is a house of fraser. the question is, do we still need as many as we used to? department stores are not going to be wiped out completely but there are going to be far, far fewer of them and that reflects shopping patterns and the changing economics of retailing. it's getting much, much harder to operate a department store profitably. take debenhams. it's already closed 19 shops this month. house of fraser will also be shutting stores. our high streets are changing and many will have to adapt to survive. beales will continue as normal, for now, as administrators assess all options. could a buyer come to the rescue or has this business really had its moment in the sun? emma simpson, bbc news, bournemouth. hs2, the high—speed rail

link between london and the north of england, could cost up to £106 billion — that's more than three times its original estimate, according to a review commissioned by the government. the report, which has been seen by the financial times, also recommends that work on the second phase of the railway — which links birmingham to manchester and leeds — should be paused for six months to consider a mix of conventional and high—speed lines on that section instead. here's our transport correspondent, tom burridge. packed in from birmingham to leeds. a high—speed line would cut thejourney time in half. but the fate of hs2 is in the balance. where i live, we will probably stand to gain in term of property values, so i should be a supporter of it, but i still think it's too much money. who wants to travel at a slower pace when you can get to where you need to go quickly, more efficiently?

itjust makes complete sense to me. there is not even a spare seat on this midday service between two major english cities. it tells you why the suggestion that the second phase of hs2 should be put on hold for several months while other options are continued is proving very controversial. that suggestion comes in the latest leak of a government review of the project and it has angered politicians in the midlands and the north of england. we are seeing the benefit in leeds of the promise of hs2 coming here, businesses wanting to relocate here and that greater connectivity not just to london. the idea that this is just about travel to london is absolutely ridiculous and needs nailing right now. at euston, where hotels and office blocks once stood, the site is clear. the project has made progress, but the cost keeps on going up.

the budget for the project five years ago was £56 billion. last summer, that rose to 88 billion, but today's leaked report adds almost 20 billion to that. a total of £106 billion. huge amounts of work, costing £8 billion, has already been done. but a growing number of conservative mps, including some newly elected in the north of england, have nowjoined calls from those whose constituencies are directly affected. they all want the prime minister to rethink. i think we can build a very strong case to the prime minister that says scrap hs2 and spend some of the money instead on northern powerhouse rail, on east—west rail in my constituency, and other transport infrastructure projects that will make a positive difference to people's lives. everyone agrees that links to cities like leeds have to improve, but constructing a new

railway is a long—term project. they've been working on hs2 for years. now the government has to decide whether high speed with a high price tag is part of the answer. tom burridge, bbc news in leeds. the director—general of the bbc, lord hall, has announced he's standing down in the summer, after seven years in the role. he said he loved the corporation, but that he wanted his successor to be able to lead it through a formal review in two years time. 0ur media editor amol rajan is here. this was a surprise annoucement, certainly took us here by surprise. it was a surprise announcement. a lot of tony hall's friends thought he would stick around for a couple of years, but the fact that he is going on to be chairman of the national gallery suggests this has been some time in the works. he has had the toughestjob of any director general, he arrived at a time of crisis and there was revelations overjimmy savile and the

mistreatment of lord mcalpine, the conservative peer. so his firstjob was to steady the ship. and then he had a tough er chapter and he made concessions over the fact that the bbc would be co—0ped into welfare policy, paying the licences of over 755 and releasing the salaries of big broadcaster and the next director general will have to not do that. and then it has things like netflix. what about his successor? i don't have the scoop on who it will be. that will take six months. but it is be. that will take six months. but it i5a be. that will take six months. but it is a very difficultjob. the internal challenge will be amongst other things, there are grievances about things like equal pay. the bbc lost a n about things like equal pay. the bbc lost an industrial tribunal on friday. but there are challenges,

one is political, the next director general will have to take an argument to the conservative government and make a case for the licence fee and how on earth you ta ke licence fee and how on earth you take on amazon and netflix. the ideal candidate would have commercial nou5 and understand young audiences. so the perfect candidate probably doesn't exist! thank you. three men have been stabbed to death in east london. the police say they believe the men — all from the local sikh community in ilford — are "known to each other". two people have been arrested. 0ur correspondent dan johnson has more. a sunday night in east london and three bodies lie in the road. the latest victim5 three bodies lie in the road. the latest victims of worst violence. knives pulled in a fight that ended outside people's homes. this man tried to save lives. there was a knife on there, on the shoulder and the chest and the head was damaged

by the hammerand... the chest and the head was damaged by the hammer and... all the hand was scratched by the knife. there was scratched by the knife. there was another two bodies lay there, both getting cpr on them. the police we re both getting cpr on them. the police were all over, ambulances all over. people rung all over. it was like something out of a horror movie. people rung all over. it was like something out of a horror moviem involved two groups of men, we believe they're from the sikh community and the result of the fight was three people were fatally wounded and they were pronounced dead at the scene. a tragic event to ta ke dead at the scene. a tragic event to take place here. such violent killings have spread unease through the community. the local council leader lives around the corner. this is why people are still reeling from the shock, because there is no explanation, normally you can think about drugs or something else, but this out of character. this is a large crime scene and there is a lot for the police to examine here.

there are a few people who witnessed the aftermath of the incident and there is footage of bodies in the road, which has been uploaded and shared on social media. that is very graphic video. much of it too upsetting for us to show. how can this happen on the steps? london's mayor felt people's frustration, because some said they have reported anti—social behaviour and called for cameras. but police say the men involved knew each other and there is no wider threat. but they have much more work to do to understand what prompted such a sudden, violent incident which such deadly results. the time is 6:16pm. our top story this evening... prince harry has spoken of his disappointment at the outcome of talks about his and meghan‘s future. and still to come, is happiness something you can learn? and coming up on sportsday on bbc news, the most remarkable scandal

in domestic rugby as saracens come to terms with relegation. the number of people infected with a new virus in china has tripled over the weekend, with the outbreak spreading to the capital beijing. more than 200 people are known to have been infected with the bug, which causes respiratory problems. japan, south korea and thailand have also reported cases. the sharp increase in infections comes as millions of chinese people prepare to travel for the lunar new year celebrations. 0ur medical correspondent fergus walsh reports. the world health organisation has said it will hold an emergency meeting on the outbreak later this week. it's official. china's mysterious new virus can pass from person to person. health authorities there are urging the public not to panic. most cases have come as a result

of direct contact with animals, but human—to—human transmission means this virus is potentially a far bigger threat. the outbreak centres on the city of wuhan, population 11 million, where the source is thought to be a seafood market. 170 people in wuhan are being treated in hospital. several are critically ill and three deaths have been confirmed. there have been a handful of cases of the virus in south korea, thailand and japan, all travellers who had come from wuhan. the infection is a new type of coronavirus, which originated in animals. although person—to—person transmission has been confirmed, it does not, thankfully, spread easily. signs of infection include breathing problems, fever and cough. now, it is the height of the flu season, meaning it is hard to know initially what infection patients have.

hundreds of millions of chinese are expected to travel over the coming week to celebrate the lunar new year, making further spread inevitable. at train stations and airports, temperature scanners are being used. some airports in the united states, singapore and japan are screening travellers and some experts think that may eventually need to happen here. i think the uk authorities need to start thinking about introducing some screening for passengers who are coming from china. the most obvious thing to do would be to institute some sort of thermal screening, so that we identify people who have got a fever, but that could be supplemented with some questionnaires. the outbreak is a reminder of the sars epidemic, also caused by a coronavirus, that killed nearly 800 people worldwide nearly 20 years ago. then, there was an initial cover—up by the authorities. this time, global health

officials say china has learned from past mistakes. it may be weeks or months, though, before we know how big a threat this new virus poses. fergus walsh, bbc news. they're the reigning champions of england's premiership. but, at the end of this season, saracens are to be relegated in disgrace from the top flight of english rugby. it's after the side continued to break strict pay cap rules by paying several of its players more via private companies. today, speaking about the scandal for the first time, england's head coach eddiejones said it had damaged the reputation of the game. he was talking to our sports editor dan roan. saracens players formed the core of the england team that reached last year's world cup final but the club now finds itself plunged into turmoil. despite the cheating scandal that engulfed the champions, eddiejones today named seven of their stars in his six nations squad. and, today, the england coach told me the image of the game can recover. it's been a difficult time.

they've obviously made some mistakes, saracens. and now is the time to fix it, but ourjob is to make sure people remember the good things about english rugby so we've got about english rugby so we've got a great opportunity against france to put rugby back on the back pages for the right reasons. despite finding out they'd be automatically relegated from the premiership at the end of the season after repeatedly failing to comply with the league's salary cap, saracens managed to win a crucial european match yesterday. the squad will now be dismantled, some of these players will be sold, others face the prospect of life in the division below butjones has faith they can handle the crisis. you sign for a club with a perception of what's going to happen and then then gets taken away, so it's a difficult time but if we can solve this problem and relationships get stronger because of it, because the binding factor for all the players is they all want to play for england, they are all desperate to play for england, they want england to win. so that is a unifying force.

today's england squad announcement here at twickenham was all about trying to look ahead towards the new international season, but the club game finds itself in the grip of an unprecedented crisis and with premiership rugby refusing to publish the full report into the affair, many fear there could be more damaging revelations still to come. the lack of transparency doesn't end there. saracens apparently choosing to accept automatic relegation rather than grant full access to their financial accounts. i think if saracens are serious about becoming open and trying to sort of claw back some of the goodwill or whatever you want to call it, then they need to make this public, they need to get all the dirty laundry out there and i think that will go some way to letting people start to forgive them. the dominant force in the english game, saracens' dramatic downfall has sent shock waves through the sport.

their players must somehow now shift their focus from club to country but moving on from the sport was my greatest on from the sport's greatest cheating scandal will not be easy. dan rowan, bbc news, twickenham. dan roan, bbc news, twickenham. cricket and england have won the third test against south africa. they're now 2—1 up in the series. the relatively inexperienced side beat south africa by an innings and 53 runs in port elizabeth. it's their biggest away win for nine years. the key to happiness can be found on a course, apparently. academics at oxford university and the london school of economics have been carrying out controlled trials aimed at raising mental wellbeing among adults. the course — run by volunteers from the charity action for happiness — is being conducted in 19 countries. the results, they say, are "staggering". our home editor mark easton has more. if you're searching for the secret of happiness, you might look upstairs at the norbiton. because this pub in south—west london hosts evening classes

which an academic study reckons really do boost your well—being. quite a lot. my new year's resolution is to restart my gratitude diary. actually, today, i made a bit of extra time to spend some time with my mum. the thing i'm going to concentrate on this year is being kinder. exploring what matters is an eight—week course run by the charity action for happiness and based on scientific principles. just connecting with the room that we're in, connecting with the space that we're in. more than 175,000 people have now taken part, learning about the ten keys to a happier life. scientists wanted to test whether the course really does make people happier, so they ran a randomised controlled trial. two similar groups were selected, one which took the classes and one which did not. asked about their life satisfaction, people who completed the course saw,

on average, a one—point increase in a ten point scale — a huge effect, greater than finding a partner or getting a job. those who didn't participate experienced no change, but when the control group did the course later, they, too, experienced the rise. if i'd asked you before you took the course to score your happiness out of ten, how has it changed? i think it is easily from something like five to eight or nine. it's really... a huge difference. a huge difference, definitely a significant difference. i decided to go along. i was deeply cynical, i thought, oh, happiness, hmm... you know, it sounds very wishy—washy. it certainly changed my thought process in the way that i feel and it makes me stop and think when i'm going into a negative spiral. are you happier? iam, yes. and the results amazed the experts at oxford university's wellbeing research centre. people who start the course, you see that rise, really rather incredible. the results are really staggering in the sense that even more

than i would have expected them. this is one of the ways to really work with communities directly to try and raise well—being across our societies. it's too early to say how long the effects of the course last, but for the class at the norbiton, it's enough at least to keep you cheerful when it's pouring with rain on a cold january night. mark easton, bbc news, south—west london. time for a look at the weather. here's matt taylor. hello, it's been lovely to spend a few days under blue skies, some of the driest weather since mid september but whilst england and wales have seen the blue skies overhead, others have been looking up overhead, others have been looking up towards grey conditions and that cloud is going to be heading its way southwards. the area of high pressure bringing the dry weather pushes out to the west over the next few days and allows the atlantic led to topple southwards and eastwards. while we will see sunshine at times, a lot more cloud than many have experienced over the past few days. cloud denied edging southwards over many parts, some rain across the far

north—west and scotland keeping temperatures up where skies remain clear as the longest, a frost tomorrow morning for the southern half of england and wales where there could be dense patches of fog in the morning. the main risk is from the south midlands to the south coast and particularly to the west of london, these are the main risk areas, one 01’ of london, these are the main risk areas, one or two spots sitting in fog until the afternoon. away from the fog, some sunshine to start the day but cloud amounts will increase, sunniest for the longest along the south coast. some sunny breaks to the east of scotland and far east of england but still some rain for the far west of scotland and the highest temperatures in the north of the country, 10—12, whether fog temperatures in the north of the country, 10—12, whetherfog lingers, only three orfour country, 10—12, whetherfog lingers, only three or four in the south. the big picture overnight wednesday, condition storming out here of late, it continues and still high pressure with us and the emphasis days with the dry weather into wednesday, it is just the dry weather into wednesday, it isjust picking the dry weather into wednesday, it is just picking out whether sunshine will be. probably always favoured to southern and eastern coasts, most

will stay underfairly southern and eastern coasts, most will stay under fairly grey skies but a slightly milder air pushing southwards, most of us seem temperatures around ten or 11 degrees. thursday and friday, the cloud will thicken, a bit of a chance of rain across the north and west but most will stay dry and it is not until we get to the weekend when we see the biggest change, the breeze picks up, sunshine and showers. a reminder of our top story... in his first public statement since stepping back as a senior royal, prince harry has spoken of his disappointment over the outcome of the royal talks about his and meghan‘s future. that's all from the bbc news at six, so it's goodbye from me and, on bbc one, we nowjoin the bbc‘s news teams where you are.

you are watching bbc news. the latest headlines. prince harry speaks out for the first time since deciding to step back from royal duties, telling of his great sadness but insisting he had no other option. the transport secretary has asked for more data before making a decision on hst, as it emerges the high—speed rail link could cost billions of pounds. 0ne high—speed rail link could cost billions of pounds. one of the old est billions of pounds. one of the oldest department stores has collapsed into administration, putting more than 1000 jobs at risk. a murder investigation is under way in north—east london after three men we re in north—east london after three men were stabbed to death last night. two men have been arrested. tony hall is to stand down as the director general of the bbc, after seven director general of the bbc, after seve n years director general of the bbc, after seven years in the role. he is to become the trustee of the national gallery. first a quick look at