welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore. i'm mariko oi. the headlines: let the games begin: the opening ceremony for beijing's winter olympics takes place on friday, amid excitement and controversy. downing street is in turmoil afterfour senior aides to borisjohnson resign within hours of each other. president biden gives details of how the head of the islamic state group was killed during a raid by us special forces in syria. and america says the kremlin has plans to broadcast fake images of the ukrainian army shooting russian sympathisers as a pretext for an invasion.

the opening ceremony for the winter olympics in beijing will take place in a few hours�* time. almost 3,000 athletes from 91 nations will compete, with over 100 gold medals to be won. but the run—up to the games has been fraught with controversy. many countries have announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, citing human rights abuses in china and there are covid cases inside beijing's olympic bubble. our china correspondent, robin brant, has the very latest. she is one of china's olympians of tomorrow — maybe. she hadn't even been born the first time the olympics came to town.

but now, the six—year—old skater is inspired by the games. translation: it's very exhausting, but she presses on. she won't leave until she's learned how to do all the moves. she doesn't quit. she can't go to any of the events, though. she can't get close. the winter olympics is happening in beijing, but almost everyone here is excluded from it. translation: it's sad we can't go to see the games in person. we'll have to watch them on tv. china is in the middle of a renewed battle to try to maintain zero covid in this country, and it's decided not to sell any tickets for the games to members of the general public, so everyone who queues outside venues like this in the weeks ahead is going to be hand—picked — a member of the ruling communist party, or someone who works at a government—controlled company. it's notjust covid measures keeping people away. there's confrontation over china's human rights record.

senior officials from the us, the uk, and more than a dozen other governments aren't coming to the ice rinks. the olympics isjust sport, though, say some looking on. translation: i think sports are sports, and they shouldn't be messed with politics. the games belong to everyone, and we should all participate and watch. politics is just politics. this is the official slogan of the games. and these children are singing about it in this propaganda video, released last month by the government in xinjiang, a place where china denies it's committed genocide. a former olympian who's close to america's athletes this time told me why some of them are nervous about sharing this moment. i had one athlete tell me that they've had nothing in the lead—up to these olympics —

they've had not a single team meeting about sport and their athletic performance. every meeting they've had has been either about covid protocols or about safety — athlete safety, personal safety in beijing. i don't think a single athlete is going to speak out at the games — and nor do i think they should. if i were there i would be keeping my mouth shut because the risk is just too great. and this is really a failure of the international olympic committee. it's a failure of leadership that athletes are in this position. in many ways, this looks like a normal olympic games. there are updated rules in place to allow the athletes to express their concerns — away from the tracks, slopes, rinks and podiums. but what is always a cold gathering feels much more frosty this time round. this is a games defined by the big fissure on the world stage, with china on one side and the us on the other. and inside the bubble, athletes trying to get on with their sport. robin brant, bbc news, beijing.

well, our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, is in beijing. you have been speaking to a lot of people in china about the games and they appear very excited but given the censorship and other issues in china, what are the real feelings among the locals? is there some public opposition? pretty much everyone we spoke into in the streets of beijing say they are very excited about the games. of course they are disappointed they cannot go along to things and buy tickets. imagine, it could be a once—in—a—lifetime opportunity for people to go to a winter olympics or see these winter sports at the top level at all. that said, people are saying there was sit with their families, everyone is on holidays for the lunar new year break, watch television and make the most of it. after all

this waiting, today is the opening ceremony day and people want to know what will be on offer for the opening ceremony presentation, especially when you compare it to what happened in 2008. china then and now, they are very different places, so it will be very interesting to see what their themes are and how china is presenting itself to a global audience, if you like, at the opening ceremony, especially given that a filmmaker, the same person who choreographed the 2008 opening ceremony, is in charge this time around. he is a very creative person. a very smart, intellectual filmmaker, but creative person. a very smart, intellectualfilmmaker, but he intellectual filmmaker, but he has intellectualfilmmaker, but he has been criticised by some for kind of selling out in recent year when he compare his more modern films to the hard—hit stuff he did earlier. nevertheless, like i said, many of us are dying to see what is on offer in terms of that message, what is china going to

say to itself about itself to the rest of the world at that opening ceremony? what sort of country is that? because it's see itself? how does it want the global audience to view the country at the moment? steven mcdonnell — country at the moment? steven mcdonnell in _ country at the moment? steven mcdonnell in beijing, _ country at the moment? steven mcdonnell in beijing, thank- country at the moment? steven mcdonnell in beijing, thank you j mcdonnell in beijing, thank you for the update. and with the opening ceremonyjust hours away, a little later in the programme we'll hear from someone who's planned not one, but five of the big events. let's take a look at some other stories in the headlines: an operation is underway in morocco to rescue a young boy trapped in a deep well. the 5—year—old, called rayan, fell down the 32—metre well on tuesday evening in a village in a rural northern province. he's said to have suffered some injuries, but remains conscious. an oil production and storage vessel has exploded off the coast of nigeria. it's not clear what caused the blast, or if any oil spilled into the sea. the fate of the ten crew

members on board is unknown. nasa says the international space station will be taken out of service in 2030 and then will have a controlled crash into the pacific ocean in 2031. it has been in continuous use since the year 2000. its final resting place will be in a part of the ocean farthest from land, known as point nemo. now to events in britain where downing street is in turmoilfollowing the resignation of four senior aides to borisjohnson. policy head munira mirza quit over the prime minister's false claim that the leader of the opposition was personally responsible for the failure to prosecute notorious paedophilejimmy savile, when he was director of public prosecutions. her departure was followed by three more. our political editor laura kuensseberg reports. applause. borisjohnson managed to keep a blackpool tram

on track today. yet it's not clear tonight where his leadership is really going. "that went well, thank god for that," the prime minister said. he might need prayers to create a sense of stability in his government, though. the communications director, jack doyle, walked out of his job tonight. a major role in any number 10, but the message had gone badly wrong. the chief of staff, dan rosenfield, who was brought in to create order, is on his bike and going too. the third exit, martin reynolds, the prime minister's senior civil servant, who invited around 100 people to a garden party. and the explosive fourth exit, his friend and political confidant of more than ten years, munira mirza. chief of ideas, "boris�*s brain," one former colleague told me. she has notjust gone, but has left dynamite

in herwake — slamming the prime minister's comments linking the leader of the opposition to jimmy savile early this week. she wrote... this is what he'd managed to say. i'm talking not about the leader of the opposition�*s personal record when he was dpp. and i totally understand that he had nothing to do personally with those decisions. i was making a point about, erm, his responsibility for the organisation. not an apology for the false claim he originally made on monday. this leader of the opposition, a former director of public prosecutions, mr speaker, who spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecutejimmy savile, as far as i can make out, mr speaker! an untrue allegation

that appalled victims and some mps on the prime minister's own side. keir starmer was the boss of the crown prosecution service whenjimmy savile was not charged. but sir keir had no individual involvement in the case. and unusually, the chancellor was happy to show a public split. being honest, i wouldn't have said it, and i'm glad that the prime minister clarified what he meant. who, as well as grappling with the economy, is grappling with the government's reputation. hi, laura, how are you? he lives and works under the same roof where lockdown gatherings took place. for the record, chancellor, you knew nothing of any of these gatherings? even when it happened outside that window, you knew nothing? as i said — people think i'm standing here, looking outside that window, i spent half my time in the treasury, as well as working here. but what i was focused on at that time, you know, as were many people, is making sure that we could help the country through a period of enormous anxiety. you walked into the cabinet room at the end of borisjohnson�*s

birthday celebration — did that not happen? you're asking about something that happened over two years ago, i walked into a meeting with a group of people as i do all the time. do you worry, though, that this has damaged the public�*s confidence in the government that you're part of? yes, i think it has, and i can appreciate people's frustration. and i think it's now the job of all of us in government, all politicians, to restore people's trust. some of your colleagues want the prime minister to go. if that were to happen would you run to replace him? no, that's not what i'm focused on, and of course... that's not my question — would you do it? some of your colleagues want you to. well, that's very kind of them to suggest that. but what i think people want from me — and what your viewers will want from me — is to focus on myjob, and the prime minister has my full support. but support for the bigger of this double act may not last forever. chaotic days are one thing — a loss of credibility quite another. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, downing street.

votes are being counted in the southend west by—election in essex. turnout is just over 24% in a seat that should be held by the conservatives. that's the third lowest turnout for a uk by election since 19115. no other main party took part in the poll — a mark of respect because the previous mp david amess was stabbed during a constituency surgery last october. a result is expected in the next couple of hours president biden has been giving details of how the leader of the islamic state group was killed during a night raid by us special forces in syria. the president said that abu ibrahim al-qurayshi, also known as hajji abdullah, blew himself up, along with four members of his family, as us troops approached the building. 13 people, including children, died in the raid. no us casualties were reported. the bbc�*s state department

correspondent barbara plett usher reports. in a corner of northwest syria where a forgotten conflict simmers, america reminded the islamic state group that its leaders were still a target. the raid took place in the dead of night and lasted two hours. us special forces landed in helicopters near the home of the is leader, hajji abdullah. those close by described a night of terror. translation: when we got out of the house, we saw aircraft flying over our heads. and after ten minutes, we heard them shouting, "give yourself up, the house is surrounded." some civilians living in the same building were safely evacuated. but women and children were among the dead. us officials blamed the militants — they said hajji abdullah blew himself up, killing his family in the blast, and that his deputy barricaded himself on the second floor with his wife — both died in a gunfight. us forces were expecting the suicide bombing.

it's happened before when a militant leader is cornered. as our troops approached to capture the terrorist, in a final act of desperate cowardice, with no regard to the lives of his own family or others in the building, he chose to blow himself up — notjust with a vest, but to blow up that third floor rather than face justice for the crimes he's committed, taking several members of his family with him, just as his predecessor did. president biden monitored the raid from the situation room — like former presidents targeting former jihadist leaders — getting reports in real time from his top military officials. hajji abdullah took over the islamic state group after its previous leader died in a us raid. he'd kept an extremely low profile, but was accused of coordinating global terrorist operations. his death is a blow to the group which had been trying to make a comeback in syria and iraq. the only american casualty was a helicopter. us forces destroyed it before leaving the area — they said it had

mechanical issues. but, otherwise, they're claiming this operation a victory in the forever war against islamist extremism. barbara plett usher, bbc news, washington. you're watching newsday on the bbc. still to come on the programme: a pretext for an invasion? the us says the kremlin has plans to broadcast fake images of the ukrainian army shooting russian sympathisers. this is the moment that millions in iran have been waiting for. after his long years in exile, the first hesitant steps of ayatollah khomeini on iranian soil. south africa's white government has offered its black opponents concessions unparalleled in the history of apartheid, and the anc leader nelson mandela is to be set free unconditionally. mission control: three, two, one... a countdown to a critical moment —

the world's most powerful rocket ignited all 27 of its engines at once. and apart from its power, it's this recycling of the rocket, slashing the cost of a launch, that makes this a breakthrough in the business of space travel. two americans have become the first humans to walk in space without any lifeline to their spaceship. one of them called it "a piece of cake". thousands of people have given l the yachtswoman ellen macarthur a spectacular homecoming - in the cornish port of falmouth after she smashed the world record . for sailing solo _ around the world, non—stop. this is newsday on the bbc. i'm mariko oi in singapore. our headlines: let the games begin — the opening ceremony for beijing's winter olympics takes place on friday — amid excitement and controversy. downing street is in turmoil — afterfour senior aides to borisjohnson resign —

within hours of each other. let's turn to the ukraine crisis — and an american claim that russia is planning to stage fake events to justify taking military action. here's pentagon spokesman john kirby outlining the plot. one option is the russian government, we think, is planning to stage a fake attack by ukrainian military or intelligence forces against russian sovereign territory, or against russian—speaking people to therefore justify their action. as part of this fake attack, we believe that russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners, and images of destroyed locations as well as military equipment at the hands of ukraine or the west — even to the point where some of this equipment would be made to look like it was western—supplied ukrainian equipment.

russia says it is not planning any false flag operations and has previously dismissed all suggestions that it's planning any military action. meanwhile the us started making good on its promise to deploy additional troops to europe. these are some of the 2000 soldiers who'll be heading to germany and poland, with others already in germany heading to romania. and in europe — there has been another flurry of diplomatic visits to kyiv and moscow. turkey's leader, president erdogan, was the guest of ukraine's president zelensky. the turkish leader said his country would remain neutral but offered to mediate with russia. meanwhile, vladimir putin hosted the president of argentina. here's our moscow correspondent — steve rosenberg. the one sentence i've found myself saying a lot in recent years is, "relations between russia and the west have reached a new low."

and then they go and get lower and lower, and the tension gets higher and higher — until you get to where we are today, with russia amassing troops near the border with ukraine, launching a string of military exercises, demanding security guarantees from the west and america sending troops to europe. one question i'm asked a lot on air is, "what is vladimir putin planning? what is he thinking? is he planning a major escalation in ukraine? is he planning to dismantle the european security order as it is? is he planning to carve out a new sphere of influence for russia?" now reporters are supposed to have all the answers, aren't we? but sometimes, you just have to put your hands up and say, "i don't know." i don't know what the kremlin�*s aim is here. there's been so much speculation — all we can do, really, is to follow events on the ground, follow all the diplomatic activity, what's being said by political leaders, and see how the situation develops.

some breaking news now from the by—election. we are getting the result there i understand. there were nine candidates standing after the death of sir david amis who had served the constituency nsx since 1997. there was no other major party except for the conservative party which ran, in respect for sir david. you see live pictures from there. we do expect, given the fact that no other major party is contesting their that the conservative party candidate will likely win. we arejust party candidate will likely win. we are just waiting for the announcement and we will bring you all the latest as we get it. turning now to the big

eventin get it. turning now to the big event in asia here today, the official opening ceremony of the beijing winter olympics. they are, of course, years in the making. so how does it all come together and how will covid shape the way events are managed? ric birch has directed and produced five different olympic opening ceremonies including beijing in 2008. i asked him how he thought this ceremony would pan out. well, you can't make any changes to the show for politics, or it would be just impossible to do it. you have to think in terms of creativity and the cultural icons of the society that you're working in. in the introduction, i heard about having a hand—picked audience of party functionaries and hand—picked party members — that means the audience itself will be incredibly stiff and not responsive at all in the way that a normal general public audience is. so i think that in itself makes

this ceremony unique. indeed, and you've worked with the chinese authorities for the 2008 games — what messages, if you could guess, would beijing be keen to stand amid all these tensions? well, in 2008 — the same creative director is in charge tonight as was in 2008, and he's a master of the tightrope between politics and creativity. and it won't be any different this time. the government doesn't frame its requests by having a party functionary come and say, "you must do x, y and z". it's implicit, i guess, and he knows his way around that very well. so the challenge in doing a ceremony in china, in creating that ceremony is how to deal with, indeed, the politics, which you can't touch on, and at the same time explain something of the history and the cultural values of the country — which are incredibly rich,

i mean, this is a society that goes back at least 5,000 years with written records, and the complexities and creativity that's been involved needs to be reflected in the ceremonies. and at the same time, it's framed in the politics without ever mentioning them in any way. so that's the challenge. i don't think me, as a foreigner, could do it at all. that was repurchase speaking to me earlier. let's head start —— straight to the constituency where the result of the by—election are expected imminently. let's try and listen in. i am afraid the audio quality is not great. 236 for anna firth, _ audio quality is not great. 40 for anna firth, conservative party candidate, 12,000 792.

francis jayden, party candidate, 12,000 792. francisjayden, independent, francis jayden, independent, 299, francisjayden, independent, 299, laws, stephen mark commonly known as steve laws, uk independence party 400. the english constitution party freedom, 86. jason seton the psychedelic movement, 512. the number of papers rejected was 1084 and i do hereby declare that annalise firth is duly elected. . ~ that annalise firth is duly elected. ., ~ , ., ., elected. thank you to the returning _ elected. thank you to the returning officer. - elected. thank you to the returning officer. tonight|

elected. thank you to the | returning officer. tonight i pay — returning officer. tonight i pay tribute to sir david amess who represented this seat for more — who represented this seat for more than 24 years and was a passionate advocate for southend west. sir david was a truly— southend west. sir david was a truly exceptional mp. he was a friend — truly exceptional mp. he was a friend to — truly exceptional mp. he was a friend to all and he had a huge impact — friend to all and he had a huge impact on _ friend to all and he had a huge impact on everyone who lives here — impact on everyone who lives here for— impact on everyone who lives here. forthe impact on everyone who lives here. for the family of sir david, _ here. for the family of sir david, and his friends, tonight will be — david, and his friends, tonight will be a — david, and his friends, tonight will be a sad and painful day and — will be a sad and painful day and i— will be a sad and painful day and i would like to pay tribute to lady — and i would like to pay tribute to lady amess and their children. we think of you tonight _ children. we think of you tonight. i would also like to pay tribute to the political parties _ pay tribute to the political parties who marked their

respect _ parties who marked their respect to sir david by not contesting this by—election. it is inspiring to see politicians coming _ is inspiring to see politicians coming together from across the political — coming together from across the political divide to respect a great — political divide to respect a great man and a great parliamentarian. it is the honour— parliamentarian. it is the honour of my life to represent the people of southend west. as your member of parliament i will work... and — of parliament i will work... and that _ of parliament i will work... and that was anna firth winning the by—election in the southend west election. thank you for watching. hello. we're seeing a real change in weather type at the moment, as a cold front

is spreading its way across the uk, and that will be bringing us a colder and windier spell of weather into friday, with some wintry showers around, too. here's the cold air streaming in behind this cold front, which is working gradually south—eastwards. still bringing some rain, even some sleet and some snow on the back edge of that, too — particularly for the likes of the pennines, the peak district, and over the high ground of wales, as well. but mainly to the south of that, it's going to be falling as rain. but a cold morning friday morning across scotland, northern ireland and northern england. so, some icy stretches around and wintry showers falling on that cold ground. so, do be prepared for some icy stretches on any untreated surfaces during friday morning. but some sunshine working in across parts of northern england, wales, and the southwest, and eventually that rain and sleetiness will clear away from the southeast, too. so, then, we're all in the clearer spells on friday — some sunshine, but also plenty of showers streaming in on that brisk wind. so, gusts will be about 30—40 mph, perhaps as high as 50 mph in the north—west. and wintry showers over the higher ground of scotland, northern ireland, and northern england in particular. temperatures between only about 4—9 celsius, and feeling colder when you add on the wind chill, as well. overnight friday night, we've got clearer skies, 1—2 wintry showers, some rain

and hill snow working into the northwest later in the night. but under those clear skies, we'll be seeing quite a cold start to your weekend, with quite a widespread frost. so, heading on into saturday, then, after that cold start, the next weather front streams in from the atlantic — and you can see quite a long weather front here, the first area here bringing some wet and windy weather initially to the northwest of the uk on saturday, and this frontal system marks the divide between milder air in the south and colder conditions towards the north. so, with the arrival of that wet and windy weather, there'll be some snow once again over the higher ground of scotland, patchy rain working slowly south into england and wales, but probably east anglia and the south—east remaining dry all day with temperatures around 10—11 celsius here, but turning colder with more snow showers packing in across the north. into sunday, and wintry showers once again across the northwest of the uk. early rain should clear away from parts of southern england to leave us all in sunnier skies, but feeling colder once again with that northwesterly breeze and highs around about 5—11 celsius on sunday. bye— bye.

this is bbc news. we will have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour straight after this programme. confession time. we'd recorded tonight's episode of newscast and then i went to the pub to have... ah! ..it turns out two thirds of a pint with a friend. then, of course, my phone went mad because loads of developments happened in the downing street sacking saga. so, i've popped back, laura never left. what's happened tonight? well, as one mp said to me, "it's not a downing street nightmare, it's a downing street meltdown!" and let's say, we are now recording this at 8:15. in the last couple of hours, the prime minister's policy chief has quit. the prime minister's director

of communications has quit. the prime minister's chief of staff has quit.