welcome to bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. our top stories: australia tells novak djokovic that no—one is above the rules as the tennis star has his visa cancelled over a covid vaccine exemption. on the issue of mr djokovic, rules are rules, and there are no special cases. the president of kazakhstan appeals for help from russia and neighbouring countries as protesters fight running battles with police and seize the international airports. investigating the capitol riots one year on: the us attorney general promises to hold to account everyone involved in the fatal attack in washington.

and the show won't go on: music's biggest night, the us grammy awards, is postponed indefinitely over covid fears. hello. welcome to the programme. the reigning australian open champion novak djokovic faces deportation from australia after flying in to melbourne to defend his australian open tennis title. the world number one, who has never declared his vaccination status, was granted a medical exemption to play. but he's now in a government detention hotel considering a challenge to his visa being revoked. mark lobel has the latest. shepherded to a government detention hotel. the tennis world number one hours after arriving

in melbourne, expecting to defend his australian open title after stating he was exempted from vaccination rules. but at the airport, federal authorities noticed a mistake with his application and he was quizzed there for over seven hours. the result for the tennis star, this time, was not what he wanted. on the issue of mr djokovic, rules are rules and there are no special cases. entry with a visa double vaccination or a medical exemption. i'm advised that such an exemption was not in place and, as a result, he is subject to the same rule as anyone else. i also want to stress that, ultimately, this is the responsibility of the traveller. it is for the traveller to be able to assert and back up their ability to come into the country

consistent with our laws. there's still mystery about what had originally had been agreed after the tennis star said he'd been granted exemption permission despite not being fully vaccinated. his team had not requested a visa that permits medical exemptions for being unvaccinated. djokovic has previously said he was opposed to vaccination. we expected this to be a bit of a saga, frankly, with novak djokovic. his vaccination status has been in question for a long time, ever since the australian open announced that they would have a mandatory vaccination policy, there's been a bit of a circus around the world number one. but saga seems to have developed into drama and very quickly into farce, quite frankly. it's extraordinary. australia is seeing tens of thousands of covid—19 cases for the first time after enduring some of the world's strictest restrictions. there was outrage across the country at the original decision to allow novak djokovic in. it's his choice

not to be vaccinated, which is fine, and i think the government here has made the choice that you should be vaccinated. but his treatment has struck the wrong note in his native serbia. his father said this is notjust a fight for novak, but a fight for the whole world. the serbian president said his country was doing everything to see that the harassment of the world's best tennis player is brought to an end immediately, and that the whole of serbia supported him. it's understood the reigning australian open champion may appeal the decision in court. the australian open begins in melbourne in under two weeks. mark lobel, bbc news. i spoke to the australian sports journalist jack snape to find out what is next in store for djokovic. we know that he has had his fees are cancelled, or he was no longer able to enter the country, and the prime minister has given

this press conference recently confirming that the government will be seeking to deport djokovic as soon as possible. so that is where djokovic is at right now, but there are some reports, as your tv package earlier mentioned, that his lawyers may appeal the rejection of his visa and indeed there may be some efforts from serbia through diplomatic channels to have this decision reviewed. interesting. we will keep an eye on that then. just to clarify here — a medical exemption, he said on social media, that he had received, but then there was a problem with the paperwork of the visa? are these two slightly separate things or are they interconnected? it is a complicated situation, and a lot of the last 2a hours or so has been reporters like myself trying to make sense of it. in australia, we have a federal system of government where the federal government is responsible for immigration

matters, and things like health and education looked after by the states, and in the case of the australian open, the victorian state, the victorian government has been working with tennis australia, who have been organising the australian open tournament to work out how they can help support players come to australia to play in the tournament where they may have issues with vaccinations. right now, australia doesn't allow people to come to australia unless they are double vaccinated all they have an exemption. and so the tennis officials set up an independent panel, which appeared to approve some sort of exemption for djokovic, which gave him the confidence to come to australia in the first place. now, what's happened since then, he's arrived at the border and the federal government, which has courage of immigration issues, they're ones that will allow him into the country, they have

looked more closely his paperwork and have decided that he doesn't qualify for an exemption. now, these are private matters, we don't know exactly what novak djokovic has applied for with regard to this exemption, so at the moment it is speculation. but there has been a degree of discussion around the potential that he may have applied for some sort of exemption in regards to having covid in the past. and perhaps the federal government's border officials have read more strictly into the exemptions and not allowed djokovic the same kind of permission the state government officials had provided him. a russian—led regional military alliance has agreed to send peacekeeping troops to kazakhstan after a plea from the country's president. this follows the government's decision to declare a state of emergency amid widespread unrest. the collective security treaty organization consists of six post—soviet states and says it has agreed to send troops for a �*limited time�* to help

stabilise kazakhstan. the country's president has denounced those behind the unrest as foreign—trained terrorists. our diplomatic correspondent paul adams has the story. explosions across this vast country, scenes of tension and turmoil. shouting in almaty, running battles lasted on into the night. the police struggling to maintain control in this, kazakhstan�*s biggest city. this is the fourth day of protests. what began as demonstrations over energy prices now morphing into something more serious. "they said kazakhs wouldn't take to the streets," says rafik, "but we've grown tired and we've had enough." earlier, protesters stormed city hall, security forces responding with

tear gas and stun grenades. president tokayev said terrorist gangs were trying to take over parts of the country. in an address to the nation, he threatened tough action and declared a state of emergency. he's called on neighbours including russia for help. far to the west, in the port city of aktau, more crowds on the streets where it all began at the weekend. a sudden jump in the price of liquefied natural gas, used to power cars, caused fury. but the protests have now tapped into other long—standing grievances, corruption and economic hardship. some vent their anger on the country's former leader, nursultan nazarbayev, who remains powerful. chanting "old man, leave," they chant. in another city, a crowd tries to pull his statue down. the us has urged the authorities to show restraint, but back in almaty,

some policemen were simply giving up. the government says eight officers and national guardsmen have been killed. chaos is spreading. paul adams, bbc news. nargis kassanova is a senior fellow at the davis center for russian and eurasian studies at harvard university. i asked her to break down the origins of the unrest. yes, yes, indeed. the spike in gas prices was the spark that ignited the fire, and the government responded with its usual combination of measures, making promises, sacking some officials, but when the protest became political, increasingly political with the demands for fair elections and when protests spread

across the country, i think the government lost its cool. what do you make of this decision to bring in this russian—led alliance of security forces effectively to try and maintain control? how do you think that will go down? well, like many of my compatriots, i am in dismay and ifeel a deep disappointment with this move. we do face, the country faces a big political crisis, but it is not a terrorist act definitely. we have protesters with political demands, we also have marauding mobs who make use of this situation, but kazakhstan shows that it cannot take care of the situation itself. which sort of signals

that it is not fully sovereign. there is this alliance of security forces coming in from outside the country. so given that, given there is a bubbling up of discontent, there is a negative reaction to these forces coming into kazakhstan, where do you think we go from here? what happens next? our situation is very fluid and i think 24 our situation is very fluid and i think 2a hours ago, 48 hours i think 24 hours ago, 48 hours ago we could have expected this development, these developments to take place. it is super high face and the political scene, it is not very clear in the country. we don't have established opposition forces or political parties, some kind of nationwide opinion leaders

who can sort of help to organise something. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll tell you why music's biggest night, the grammy awards, has been postponed indefinitely. the japanese people are in mourning following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. good grief. after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer paul simon starts his tour of- south africa tomorrow in spite of protests and violence - from some black activist groups. i they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa _ until majority rule is established. . around the world, people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star david bowie,

who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world's tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: australia tells novak djokovic rules are rules, as the tennis star has his visa cancelled over a covid vaccine exemption. the president of kazakhstan appeals for help from russia and neighbouring countries as protesters fight running battles with police and seize the international airports. it's been another day of record covid cases across europe.

france has registered more than 335,000 cases in a single day — a new european record. italy has been meeting to discuss whether to make vaccines mandatory for all workers and people over the age of 50. in a newspaper article, french president emmanuel macron — used controversial and strong language — threating to ban all those who refuse a jab from most public life. bravissimo! the youngest to be armed in the endless battle against covid. five—year—old eduardo gets his first jab as italy steps up vaccinations for children. maybe too small to grasp how the pandemic has changed their world. but, say parents, they, too, must fight it. why did you want to vaccinate your son? because i love him. his father and i really love him and want him and all his little friends to go back

to a normal life. so, this is the least we can do. respect science and respect our children. "it was ok," says eduardo. "did it hurt," i asked. "just a little bit." they do their best here to soften the experience, with certificates of bravery, a rite of passage for the pandemic generation. you can see the smile on theirface when they ask to you, "now i can see my friend?" you can say yes, you can play with them and everything, because now the vaccine the covid—i9 is so important for everything. when italy became the first country in the west to fall to the virus in 2020, it was the first in the world to impose a nationwide lockdown. but today, despite record cases, its streets are once again busy as it, like much of europe, tightens vaccine rules instead to some resistance.

in france, heated debate in parliament over mandatory vaccination for restaurants and trains were suspended amid opposition protests over an interview with president macron. he told a newspaper he aims to bar the unvaccinated from social activities, using the slang word bleep. on the streets of paris, mixed views on the colourful language. translation: i think that's a bit out of place for a president to say. translation: the message is that he wants to improve i things, but his form of words wasn't great. at the vaccine centre, they're ramping up shots before schools resume next week, hoping to stem the omicron surge. among the messages, "my biggest dream is that covid ends." sometimes children just put it best. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. it's one year since a violent mob in washington nearly brought the us congress to its knees. on thursday president biden is expected to point the finger

specifically at donald trump for what he will call the former president's singular responsibility for those events. thejustice department has faced criticism for not, so far, pursuing alleged organisers of the attempted insurrection. the us attorney general said no—one involved in the attack is beyond the reach ofjustice. in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work on in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work on what in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work on what has in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work on what has become in the aftermath of the attack the justice department thejustice department began its work on what has become one of the largest and most complex, most resource intensive investigations in our history. only a small number of perpetrators were arrested in the tumbled of january six itself. every day since we have worked to identify, investigate and apprehend defendants from across the country. the people who broke into capitol hill onjanuary 6th of last year were made up

of a coalition of extremist groups, but the qanon conspiracy played a vital role in spreading the election lie that rallied them. bbc reporter stephanie hegarty, first reported on the rise of qanon during the pandemic, and now she's been back to the us to see what's changed for some of those caught up in the conspiracy theory. it's a powerful conspiracy theory that spread paranoia and distrust and contributed so much to this infamous day. but are people still held in oanon's grip? the pandemic wasn't real and the race war isn't real. reporting on qanon back in 2020, i first met nick nittoli on the internet. this time, i had a chance to meet him face—to—face. when everything unfolded on january 6, what were you thinking? get us off national television. what are we doing? is that the capitol? is that a shaman? things have changed, foryou, ithink, a bit. yeah, they definitely have. i don't want to believe

in some of these nefarious, terrible things. the information that i've researched has led me there. so, when the information that i research has not let me to there, and president trump is not the president and joe biden's our president, then, yeah, like, i'm going to be a realist and say this isn't what i thought would happen. a lot of people were supposed to get arrested — that didn't happen. believers claim that a cabal of satan—worshiping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control politics and the media. donald trump, they say, is fighting the cabal. a poll by ipsos mori, seen exclusively by the bbc, found that 7% of americans believe that this is true — that's down from i7% a year ago. but one in three americans still say they don't know if it's true or false. nick says he's having doubts, but i spoke to many others who still believe. sacrifices, children and babies being sacrificed. the dark entities that were with our governments. a grandmother of 13,

a copywriter and a dog groomer. rachel bernstein has been treating families torn apart by the conspiracy. while i'm noticing that there are fewer new members, which is a really good thing, still, the cases that i get — they're very difficult. there's still so much hostility and so much aggression. it is just as toxic for certain people that it exists in their system like a poison. as we spend time together, nick and i sat down to watch some videos from a qanon conference in las vegas. oh, my god, jim caviezel was there?! watching a hollywood actor speak about the conspiracy theory energised nick. the fact that he's talking about this stuff is just actually amazing, because of who he is, he's a huge hollywood actor. i'm with my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. "defiance of tyranny. " that's what this is about.

here was a glimpse intojust how easily he and millions of others could potentially get pulled back in to all this. dammit, i wish i was there for that! and i'll be honest with you right now, in this moment, stephanie, i do believe wholeheartedly. stephanie hegarty, bbc news. we will have special coverage at 2100gmt on thursday across bbc news on the first anniversary of the us capitol attack. christian fraser will be speaking to some of the people who organised rallies that day, and he'll look at the the profound divisions left across the united states. organisers of the prestigious grammy music awards have postponed this year's annual show in los angeles, because of the renewed spread of the coronavirus in the us. the organisers said holding the show on the scheduled date of january 31 would pose too many risks. they said the health and safety

of the music community, the live audience and hundreds of employees remained their top priority. our correspondent, peter bowes has more from los angeles. we are going to have to wait a little bit longer to see whether one of abba's new songs can be named record of the year in 2022. lots of categories hanging in the balance but a difficult decision for the organisers and the conclusion that omicron virus is just spreading too quickly, it is simply too dangerous, too risky as they put it, to put on the kind of show that we are familiar with. so it has been postponed, we don't have a new date yet. it was postponed last year as well but just by a few weeks, it went ahead in march of last year, a mixture of in—person performances by the bands but some remotely as well. it actually turned out to be quite a good show, and it really is at this stage unclear as to how they are going to resolve this this year. interesting, so they could have an option of postponing it and doing it like they did last year, that kind of hybrid approach. i suppose the other option is just cancelling it altogether. that seems quite drastic.

that would be very drastic, and i don't think anyone is expecting that to happen, although it has to be said in the last few days we've heard about all sorts of cancellations and postponements. the situation is definitely in flux as we know around the world, but i think certainly the music industry doesn't want to cancel it, it wants some sort of show and if that can be hybrid, a mixture of in—person performances, some remote, maybe some online as well, that is better than not having a show as well. these shows, these spectaculars are hugely important for the entertainment industry and the organisations that put them on, not least financially. and just give us a flavour for people who can't keep up with all the restrictions across different countries around the world at all times, what is the state of play with other big events across the us? it's fascinating. i will tell you about one event that is going ahead this weekend, the golden globe awards. generally the big opening awards show of the year but it is mired in controversy

at the moment for very different reasons, nothing to do with omicron, it's due to a lack of racial diversity in voting panel, but it is going ahead. there will be no audience, there'll be no television coverage or red carpet, it will be a very lonely affair, but other shows have been cancelled. interestingly, here in los angeles, not a show but the legal system, the court system here has decided to postpone all criminal trials for at least the next two weeks. organisers of the prestigious grammy music awards have and italian mafia boss has been arrested after he was spotted on oogle maps in spain. he was found in a _ on oogle maps in spain. he was found in a town _ on oogle maps in spain. he was found in a town near _ on oogle maps in spain. he was found in a town near madrid - found in a town near madrid where he was living under the name manuel. he escaped a room prison in 2002 and was sentenced to life in jail the following year for murder after

being arrested by spanish police he reportedly told them how did you find me? i have not even called my family for ten years. hello. hard to believe that only a few mornings ago, we were starting the day with temperatures in the mid—teens. out there at the moment, a widespread and quite sharp frost as we start thursday morning's commute, temperatures even in the city centres below freezing. but it's into the countryside we're seeing temperatures in minus double digits. temperatures have risen, though, to start the day across in northern ireland, and that's because we've got cloud spilling in here ahead of what will be a wet and windy day for a fairfew. the sunshine giving way to the cloud, the rain, and also some hill snow. the hill snow is happening because our weather system, these weather fronts pushing their way eastwards, will be pushing into that cold air, which is sitting in place at the moment. plenty of sunshine across central and eastern areas to start the day. but through the morning commute, outbreaks of rain, a little bit of hill sleet in northern ireland spreads its way into western

parts of northern england and wales, turning readily to snow in the scottish hills, also in the lake district and the pennines, giving a covering of snow in places, and all being blown around by strong—to—gale force winds touching 60—70mph across some western areas. some parts of east anglia, the south—east will stay dry until late in the afternoon and evening, even if it does cloud over. but here across many eastern areas, it'll still be a cold day, even though there's a slice of mild air pushing in, just 3 celsius, maybe up to around 8 or 9 for a time in the west, finishing the day with sunshine and showers. then it's showers into the evening and overnight to take us through into friday, those showers turning wintry once again as temperatures drop. there could be some frost and ice around as well as we start friday morning, even though temperatures nowhere near as low as they will be to start thursday. so, another cold day on friday. we're almost between that one system clearing and another one pushing in, and we've got winds coming in from a north—north—westerly direction. that will bring frequent showers across western scotland, northern ireland, north—west england and north wales, given a covering of snow for one or two spots mainly

over the hills, but even some lower—level sites. forsome, it'sjust rain, sleet and hail. we'll have to watch the system as well spreading across southern counties, which could bring a few longer spells of rain, even a bit of sleet and snow to the south. a cold day in the wind. then we flip things around to something milder as we go through into saturday. this next weather system pushes its way in. slightly wider, more extensive than the one we are seeing on thursday, so more in the way of rainfall around. gustiest winds in the south, we'll all see rain at some point, and then colder to end the day and into sunday morning with a touch of frost before more rain arrives in the west later on. take care.

this is bbc news. the headlines: australia has told tennis champion novak djokovic that rules a re rules as the star has his visa cancelled over a covid vaccine exemption. djokovic flew in to melbourne to defend his australian open tennis title. he's now in a government detention hotel, considering a legal challenge. a russian—led regional military alliance has agreed to send peacekeeping troops to kazakhstan after a plea from the country's president. the governments declared a state of emergency amid widespread unrest. protesters have fought running battles with police and seized the international airports. investigating the capitol riots one year on: the us attorney general is promising to hold to account everyone involved in the fatal attack in washington. the justice department has faced criticism for not, so far, pursuing alleged organisers of the attempted insurrection.

four people have been cleared of criminal damage