this is bbc news. i'm victoria fritz, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. pressure mounts on boris johnson as four senior aides quit, and speculation grows about his future. let the games begin — the opening ceremony for beijing's winter olympics is to take place amid excitement and controversy. a rescue operation continues in northern morocco after a 5—year—old boy fell into a well. and looking for the world's most unreachable wreck — the hunt for sir ernest shackleton�*s legendary endurance.

hello, and welcome. downing street is in turmoil following the resignation of four senior aides to boris johnson. the policy chief quit over the prime minister's false claim that the leader of the opposition was personally responsible for the failure to prosecute and tories paedophile jimmy sample when he was director of public prosecutions. her departure was then followed by three other aides. our political correspondence damien grammatical has all the details. their departure has left boris johnson sean of some of his top team and still under pressure. communications directorjack communications director jack doyle walked communications directorjack doyle walked out. the media messaging spent out of his control weeks ago. the chief of staff, down rosenfield, brought injust last staff, down rosenfield, brought in just last year to get a grip on things, on his way out. the

prime minister's top syllable service advisor martin reynolds. he had sent the email inviting 100 staff to a garden party. but munira mirza's resignation is the most damaging. his close friend and advisorfor more than damaging. his close friend and advisor for more than a decade, she quit over his attacks on sir keir starmer, after he had repeated the untrue claim sir keir personally failed to prosecute sex offenderjimmy savile. she wrote in her as ignition letter: sir keir was overseeing the crown prosecution service when charges againstjimmy savile were not brought, but he had no part in the decision. yesterday mrjohnson wrote back, saying he was making a more general point. i he was making a more general oint. . ., , , he was making a more general oint. _, , , ., point. i recognise fully that these are _ point. i recognise fully that these are motive _ point. i recognise fully that these are motive issues, i point. i recognise fully that l these are motive issues, but these are motive issues, but the point the prime minister was making, but leaders should take responsibility for their

own organisations, was a fair one. ., ., ., , one. next door to number ten, thou~h, one. next door to number ten, though. the _ one. next door to number ten, though, the chancellor, - one. next door to number ten, though, the chancellor, usually| though, the chancellor, usually reticent, has started criticising his boss. i wouldn't have said it and i'm glad that the parameter clarified what he meant. find clarified what he meant. and s-ueakin clarified what he meant. and speaking on _ clarified what he meant. and speaking on newsnight, former conservative foreign secretary malcolm rifkind urged tory mps to decide whether they want mr johnson to stay on or not. this matter has _ johnson to stay on or not. this matter has to _ johnson to stay on or not. this matter has to come _ johnson to stay on or not. this matter has to come to - johnson to stay on or not. this matter has to come to a - johnson to stay on or not. ti 3 matter has to come to a head. and i do mps have confidence in the prime minister, or they don't have, and the quicker they address that question in a clear and on a big us way, the better notjust for the better not just for the country, which is the most important point, but for themselves.— important point, but for themselves. ~ , . themselves. some tory mps have said the resignations _ themselves. some tory mps have said the resignations show - themselves. some tory mps have said the resignations show mr - said the resignations show mr johnson is delivering on his promise to make changes to his team. but others doubt he will be able to get things back on track. damian green atticus, bbc news, westminster. —— grammaticas. the conservative party has won a by—election in the english constituency of southend west, in essex. anna firth was elected with just under 13,000 votes. the vote came after the previous mp sir david amess

was killed while meeting with constituents last october. out of respect, none of the other main parties put forward any candidates. turnout was less than 25%, the third lowest since the war, and many ballot papers were spoiled. the winter olympics are getting underway in beijing, with the opening ceremony in a few hours' time. almost 3,000 athletes from 91 nations will compete, across seven sports. 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. added to that, cases of coronavirus have been found inside beijing's "olympic bubble." our china correspondent robin brant reports. 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. 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 is just sport, though, say some looking on. translation: | 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. in the pre—games period, i can feel it... 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 about their athletic performance. every team 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 and others on the other and, inside the bubble, athletes trying to get on with their sport. robin brant, bbc news, beijing.

our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell, is outside the birds nest olympic venue. stephen, when chinese president xi jinping welcomes leaders from around the world for the opening ceremony of the beijing olympics today it will be his first time meeting foreign counterparts face to face in more than 400 days. and at the top of his guest list is russia's vladimir putin. how close is the alliance between these leaders? special road closures here today for vladimir putin's motorcade. it may well come past us as i am on our. xi jinping will be meeting his russian counterpart in the hours before the opening ceremony, and the interesting thing is that let putin is here for the opening ceremony. at the contrast, people will be able to see at this opening

ceremonial, to that when the summer games were held here, in 2008, many more world leaders were at the same stadium, the birds nest stadium for the opening of the game spend. much more toned down in international presence this time around, because of the, well, the boycotts that some countries, diplomatic boycotts, have put in place, because of china's human rights record. possibly also because the winter and picks is not such a big dealfor many winter and picks is not such a big deal for many countries, only the winter countries. but it will be an entirely different opening ceremony. that said, the same director who is in charge of the 2008 games will be in charge of the opening ceremony, so what image of china will he be presenting out that ceremonial? it is going to be quite fascinating to see how china sees itself now, because it is a very different country this time around. i

different country this time around. . . , ., different country this time around. . . , .. around. i am glad you brought u . around. i am glad you brought u- the around. i am glad you brought up the comparisons _ around. i am glad you brought up the comparisons between l around. i am glad you brought i up the comparisons between this olympics and the 2008 games. the question that has been asked by many in the west is whether, in these olympics, we will see a replay of what happened in 2008, when beijing hosted the last olympics, and russia invaded a different former soviet state, georgia. where are we in terms of the escalation with the conflict in ukraine? and where would that leave ties between russia and china? i leave ties between russia and china? ~' .. �* leave ties between russia and china? ~' ., �* , . china? i think it won't be a aood china? i think it won't be a good look. _ china? i think it won't be a good look, if _ china? i think it won't be a good look, if i _ china? i think it won't be a good look, if i could - china? i think it won't be a good look, ifi could put. china? i think it won't be a good look, ifi could put it| good look, if i could put it that way. if there are some sort of positivity is during these games. especially given that vladimir putin has come here, met with xi jinping, that vladimir putin has come here, met with xijinping, and people will know that in theory, there is supposed to be a global truce during the olympics. it is said to go back to the ancient times of the games, and there is much hope that peace will reign when the games are being held. so if

they are to be a conflict during these olympics, it is not something that china will be very happy about, that is for sure. be very happy about, that is for sure-— be very happy about, that is for sure. ~ . ., ., . for sure. we are going to leave it there. for sure. we are going to leave it there- we — for sure. we are going to leave it there. we have _ for sure. we are going to leave it there. we have not - for sure. we are going to leave it there. we have not seen - for sure. we are going to leave it there. we have not seen the | it there. we have not seen the motorcade behind it but we will keep an eye on it for you, and enjoy the opening ceremony when it starts in a few hours. the united states says it did everything it could to minimise civilian casualties during a raid in syria in which the leader of the islamic state group was killed. president biden said that abu ibrahim al—hashimi al-qurashi — also known as hajji abdullah — blew himself up, along with four members of his family, as us specialforces approached the building. 13 people — including children — were killed, but no us casualties were reported. we can now speak to mikey kay who's a former senior raf officer and independent journalist, who has been reporting on isis since 2013. mikey, as an officer, you've taken part in targeted assasinations using drones.

you were also highly involved in gathering intelligence to make those strikes possible. what do you make of where al-qurayshi was eventually found? good morning. iwould just clarify that point on targeted assassinations. we were involved in apprehending high—value assets in baghdad and the local baghdad area, but it was using a very similar format, which is what is called heli assault force raids, which is effectively using multiple formations of helicopters with special forces units on board. with intelligence that could have been collated over days, weeks and months, to basically drop in on a high—value target, or somebody that has been deemed by the intelligence community is a high—value target, and certainly abu

ebrahim al-qurashi would have been a prioritisation of a high—value target. then the idea is to basically take the helicopter formations income amounts downwind of the target, drop the ground forces off, and then the idea is, effectively, to apprehend the target for what is called technical questioning, orto. in that process, you have a number of players, and what is interesting about the particular location of al-qurashi on this target is that he was right up against the turkish border, in the north—western part of syria, which is very unusual for islamic state, because it is running state historically have owned the territory around the so—called capital, raqqa, and to the east of something that, and only a week ago there a lot of activity, but on the iraqi border, which is on the other side of the country, regarding the release of the accepted release of islamic state prisoners from a very large prisoners from a very large prison there. so this is very

out of the way of what was historically islamic state territory. there are lots of questions about how the us forces would have launched the raid, where they would come from, historically they use basesin from, historically they use bases in iraqi, but this is a long way across country. so they would have been a lot of assets, notjust helicopters, but close air support, drones providing imagery, that would have been used on this raid. how complex would you say it is to execute an operation like this, with the goal being minimal loss of life and certainly civilian casualties? in military parlance, this whole sort of precision approach to warfare, it is called a kill chain, and that can span anything from an aircraft dropping a precision guided munition onto a target, which has to have specific authorisation all the way through to an operation like this. it is precise. the

collateral damage estimates, the cde, is something at the forefront of military commanders' minds when we plan an image —— an operation like this. so the collateral damage estimate is an incredibly precise algorithm that can be used for various munitions, whether it is a bomb or artillery, to look at the spread of damage, if you like. now, with this particular operation, i think it is pretty obvious, certainly from the footage i have seen, but it was a precision operation to capture the intended target. and nowadays, a live target that you can tactical question is much better than a dead target. and specifically this character, who was not well known, the intelligence on him would not have been great, and i am absolutely surprised as to how he was found in this area. there are lots of questions about how he was found, and there are many intelligence opportunities for that, but the big one assuming intelligence, and human intelligence relies a

lot on informant clinics, in that particular area, i can imagine it would have been hard for the us coalition and the us special forces and the pentagon to have that level of human intelligence network in order to target this guy.— intelligence network in order to target this guy. thank you very much — to target this guy. thank you very much for— to target this guy. thank you very much for your _ to target this guy. thank you very much for your time - to target this guy. thank you very much for your time and | very much for your time and your contributions today. thank you. your contributions today. thank ou. . . ., . stay with us on bbc news. still to come, catastrophe for cameroon — the hosts are knocked out of the africa cup of nations as egypt head to the final. 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 bbc news. the latest headlines: pressure mounts on boris johnson — as four senior aides quit — and speculation grows about his future. in northern morocco, efforts are continuing to rescue a five—year—old boy who fell into a well. rayan has been stuck in a 32m deep water well since tuesday.

aru na iyengar reports. bulldozers work flat—out in tamrout, in the northern tourist province of chefchaouen. they're racing to dig a hole alongside a shaft of a 32—metre well. waiting at the bottom is 5—year—old rayan. he fell in on tuesday evening. he was playing whilst his father was repairing the well. translation: the closer we get, the hole gets more narrow, - and hard to pass through, which makes it very hard to save the child through volunteers. this is why we had to come up with another technique, which is digging. rescuers have been able to send oxygen and water to rayan through pipes. it's a tricky, painstaking manoeuvre. it is a long way down, and the diameter of the well is less than 45 centimetres. rayan�*s plight has touched the hearts of moroccans. there has been an outpouring of sympathy online, with the hashtag #staystrong going viral across north africa.

crowds have gathered at the site, anxious to hear the latest on the rescue. translation: rayan is very much loved here in the village, - notjust at home. i miss him, it's been three nights. but rescuers are working against the clock and conditions are difficult. they remain hopeful they can reach rayan and bring him to safety. aruna iyengar, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. hello, i'm gavin ramjaun — and this is your update from the bbc sport centre. egypt are through to the final of the africa cup of nations — after a dramatic penalty shootout victory over the hosts cameroon. the match was goalless in yaounde after extra time. egypt goalkeeper gabaski proving the hero, saving two cameroon spot kicks before clinton n'jie missed the crucial one. egypt winning 3—1 on penalties — and they go to the final on sunday where they take on senegal, hoping for a record—extending 8th cup of nations crown.

english premier league side liverpool professed their pride in their two star players after the match. they put up a message on social media showing support for sadio mane and egypt's mo salah. senegal will be hoping mane can inspire them to a first cup of nations triumph. butjurgen klopp no doubt will be looking forward to having the pair back, injury free, after the final on sunday. the club world cup got under way on thursday. originally scheduled for december injapan, it was moved to abu dhabi because of the pandemic. host side aljazira made it safely through to the second round after a 4—1win over tahiti's as pirae. the tahitians had flown over 11,000 miles for their tournament debut. aljazira will face asian champions al hilal from saudi arabia. the draw for the semi—finals of the copa del rey take place in spain on friday morning. but there's no real madrid after they were knocked out. athletic bilbao beat them 1—0 with a goal from alejandro berenguer. thursday's other quarter—final saw real betis win 4—0 at real sociedad.

they'll join valencia and rayo vallecano in the last four. in england, it's the fourth round of the fa cup this weekend. manchester united host middlesbrough on friday night at old trafford. manager ralf rangnick has admitted the decision to keep jesse lingard was partially driven by mason greenwood's current unavailability following his arrest. lingard was linked with a move but ultimately ended up staying put. rangnick says that lingard had been given a couple of days off "to clear his head". he asked me in the club if we could give him a couple of days off to clear up his mind and he will be back in the group next monday, back fortraining will be back in the group next monday, back for training and then be a regular part of the squad again. it's called the world's most—unreachable wreck, sir ernest shackleton�*s endurance sank more than a hundred years ago as the explorer led an expedition to cross antarctica. scientists hope the same icy conditions that befell the boat, may have preserved it

and have deployed a team using the latest tech to try and find the wreck. our science editor rebecca morelle reports. caught on camera more than 100 years ago. the final moments of the endurance. this footage restored and released by the bfi show sir ernest shackleton�*s famous ship as it was lost to the antarctic ice. this is exactly the way she was. , .. y this is exactly the way she was. , ., , . , this is exactly the way she was. , ., , ., ., was. the story has long fascinated _ was. the story has long fascinated maritime - fascinated maritime archaeologists. now a new expedition is attempting to locate the ship. like shackleton they will face gruelling conditions. endurance is the most _ gruelling conditions. endurance is the most unreachable - gruelling conditions. endurance is the most unreachable wreckl is the most unreachable wreck in the world. by extension this has to be the greatest wreck hunt ever. the big challenges the ice. it is opening and clenching, unclenching. it is a

really vicious lethal environment that we are going into. ,, ., �*, , ., into. shackleton's expedition set off from _ into. shackleton's expedition set off from south _ into. shackleton's expedition set off from south georgia i into. shackleton's expedition set off from south georgia in december 1914 but by mid january the ship was frozen fast in the eis drifting for months with the crew on board and order was eventually given to abandon ship. the endurance sank on november 21, 1915. the location was recorded. the objects that were rescued from the sinking endurance give a sense of what life was like on board. this is the sextant, crucial for navigating and over here is a box of chocolates that was used as a payment between crew for doing chores like dunning socks. and up here, unbelievably, is a piece of the mast. probably the only relic of the ship that is not at the bottom of the sea. than at the bottom of the sea. an important — at the bottom of the sea. in important document for at the bottom of the sea. fifi important document for people going out and looking today.

shackleton's expedition diary was also saved with his emotional entry on the day the ship was lost.— ship was lost. she went today. 5 - m ship was lost. she went today. 5m she ship was lost. she went today. 5pm she went _ ship was lost. she went today. 5pm she went down _ ship was lost. she went today. 5pm she went down by - ship was lost. she went today. 5pm she went down by the - ship was lost. she went today. i 5pm she went down by the head. the stern, the cause of all the trouble, was the last to go underwater. i cannot write about it dick sunday always seems the day on which things happen to us. seems the day on which things happen to us— happen to us. you can read about how _ happen to us. you can read about how it _ happen to us. you can read about how it was _ happen to us. you can read about how it was creaking. | happen to us. you can read - about how it was creaking. they talk about _ about how it was creaking. they talk about her _ about how it was creaking. they talk about her as _ about how it was creaking. they talk about her as a _ about how it was creaking. tue: talk about her as a personality in the groaning and the sounds stop there was a real sense of what it felt like what it sounded like and how crushed they were when the ship was crushed. , , , ., , crushed. the gulbis two is the olar crushed. the gulbis two is the polar icebreaker _ crushed. the gulbis two is the polar icebreaker that - crushed. the gulbis two is the polar icebreaker that will - crushed. the gulbis two is the polar icebreaker that will huntj polar icebreaker that will hunt for the wreck used using the co—ordinates recorded by the crew. endurance lies 3000 metres down to the team will use underwater robots kitted out with sonar and cameras. the hope is that the wreck will be well preserved by the icy water and lack of organisms eating

away at the wood. tt and lack of organisms eating away at the wood.— and lack of organisms eating away at the wood. if we get the time that we — away at the wood. if we get the time that we think _ away at the wood. if we get the time that we think we - away at the wood. if we get the time that we think we are - away at the wood. if we get the j time that we think we are going to have over the site i think there is a very good chance that those two underwater vehicles will find it. a very big chance. but that chance could go to zero with the conditions collapsed and the ice flow caves and away do not wish it to. ice flow caves and away do not wish it to-_ ice flow caves and away do not wish it to— wish it to. for shackleton's expedition _ wish it to. for shackleton's expedition the _ wish it to. for shackleton's expedition the loss - wish it to. for shackleton's expedition the loss of - wish it to. for shackleton's expedition the loss of the i expedition the loss of the endurance was not the end. the crew trekked across hundreds of miles of ice, rode the whittlesey and then climbed a mountain range to reese —— reach safety. miraculously they all survived but the ship that had in their home still lies in the icy depths, silently waiting to be discovered. rebecca morrell, bbc news. amazing. coming up next we have plenty of business news for you including a rout on the market.

some top shocking tech results. join you for all your business news and reach me on twitter. we will see you soon. 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 is going to be bringing us a colder and also a 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 are going to 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, then, we've got clearer skies, one or two wintry showers, some rain and hill snow working into the northwest later in the night. but under those clear skies, we're going to 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 is going to be 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. your contributions today. thank ou. . . ., .,

this is bbc news, with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. still delivering — record earnings for amazon, but the price of prime membership is going up as shipping and labour costs rise. tech—ageddon! the nasdaq has its biggest slump in over a year, as facebook owner meta loses a quarter of its value, wiping out $250 billion. take the pain. we'lljust have to cope with soaring prices, says the boss of the bank of england, amid the biggest income squeeze in decades. plus, a bridge too far. whyjeff bezos�*s new superyacht is making waves in rotterdam.