with virginia giuffre with no admission of liability. in the agreement, he accepts ms giuffre has suffered as a "victim of abuse" and will make a substantial donation to ms giuffre�*s charity, supporting victims�* rights. the duke has always maintained his innocence. president putin claims some russian troops have been withdrawn from the ukraine border but that has yet to be confirmed. president biden says a russian invasion is still a distinct possibility and that the "united states and its nato allies are prepared for whatever happens. the former president of honduras has surrendered to police and will be extradited to america. us prosecutors have accused juan orlando hernandez of being involved in a drug—trafficking network. he denies the charges. now on bbc news, in a world exclusive,

novak djokovic breaks his silence about being deported from the australian open last month. in an in—depth interview with the bbc�*s amol rajan, the world number one tennis star opens up about his controversial decision to not have the covid—19 vaccine, and whether it will stop him becoming the most successful male tennis player of all time. he's widely considered the greatest player of his time in an era of legends. serbia's novak djokovic has taken tennis to another level. but when he landed in australia injanuary, bidding to become the most successful men's player ever, he sparked one of the biggest controversies in the history of the sport. australia cancelled his visa — twice. protests, a diplomatic stand—off, and an international outcry followed. why? because amid a pandemic in which millions have died, this elite sportsman refuses, on principle, to be vaccinated against covid—19.

we've heard from presidents and prime ministers. rules are rules. and there are no special cases. we've heard from fans, campaigners, and his family. they are keeping him as a prisoner. it'sjust not fair, it's not human. the one person we haven't heard from is novak djokovic himself. until now. novak djokovic, thank you very much indeed for speaking to the bbc and to me. you've had an interesting few months, leading news bulletins around the world with your attempt to gain entry to australia and compete at the australian open. but you've kept mostly silent — until now. why have you agreed to this interview? the reason why i was silent up

to now is because i wanted to respect my colleagues, tennis, the australian open, and obviously prior to that, the legal processes that i was part of. and also, i wanted to take some time to reflect on everything that has happened, because there was a lot of emotions. do you feel that you've been misunderstood or misrepresented in recent weeks? i feel there was a lot of wrong conclusions. and, you know, i was really sad and disappointed with the way it all ended for me in australia. and, you know, it wasn't easy also, following the media and everything that was written about me in the previous four or five weeks. so i'm happy that, you know, at least i get a chance today to speak to you and to tell you my part of the story. what would you say to the ordinary australian

listening to you now, who has endured immense sacrifices and restrictions on their liberty over the past couple of years, but who looks at you and says, based on what they see in the news, "this guy thinks he's above the law, he thinks he doesn't have to abide by the same rules as everyone else"? australia has been through one of the more severe lockdowns that we had since the beginning of pandemic, so i can only imagine how hard it was for australians, and i sympathise, empathise with all the people. and i understand that there has been lots of... ..say frustrations from australian people towards me and towards the entire situation and the way it was dealt with. and i understand that as well reading newspapers, you get certain conclusions. and so i want to tell them that i always followed the rules. so when the australian prime minister, scott morrison, says, "there should be no special rules for novak djokovic," you agree with him? i agree that there shouldn't

be any special rules. i never used my privilege status to get into australia by force or do anything in this entire process. so i was treated as anybody else. and when there was a possibility for medical exemption, i was using that, and i applied, and put forward my pcr test, my sufficient amount of antibodies that i had at the time, and i got accepted and approved by two independent australian medical panels — anonymously, i think it's important to mention, my name was not on the application. neither did anyone else who applied for medical exemption. i think there was above 20 or 25 medical exemptions that were reviewed and accepted. novak djokovic�*s life changed forever in the course of a month.

on 16th december, he took a pcr test. it came back positive, but he didn't get the result until later the next day. that morning, december 17th, he was pictured maskless with young players at an event at his tennis centre. on the 18th, he attended a photo shoot and gave an interview to french newspaper l'equipe, not telling l'equipe staff of his covid status. onjanuary 4th, it emerged djokovic had received an exemption that would allow him to play in the australian open without being vaccinated. this is because he had recently tested positive for covid. the next day, he arrived in australia late at night. in the early hours of the 6th, his visa was cancelled, and he was taken to a detention centre used for asylum seekers. afterfour days, a judge quashed the visa cancellation. djokovic was released and allowed to go to training in melbourne. but within a few days,

his visa was revoked again. this time on grounds of public safety after an intervention by the immigration minister. on the 16th, djokovic lost his appeal against the decision and was deported, arriving back in serbia the following day. perhaps you feel some of these facts have been misreported or underreported, so let's really set the record straight, and these can just be a short, simple, yes or no. you conducted a pcr test here in serbia on december 16th, two days after attending a basketball match, where covid was circulating. court documents indicate that the insitute of public health of serbia said the result came back positive seven hours later around 8pm, but you weren't told of that pcr result on that day, were you? you were told only later the next day? yes, that's correct. you did a rapid antigen or lateral flow test the following morning, december the 17th, before attending an awards presentation with children here in belgrade. that result on that lateral flow test was negative.

so, to be clear, you did not know that you had covid—19 when, unmasked, you met those children? that is correct. you then received your positive pcr result, ie indicating that you did have covid—19, later that day, december the 17th. did you, or more likely your team, make any efforts to notify the families of those children or those people present at the award ceremony that they had been in close company of someone... yes. you did, what sort of efforts did you make? yes, we contacted them, and we did advise them that, you know, i've received my pcr test and it was positive. cos, as you know, that picture of you, which circulated online, with young players when you had covid but you say you weren't aware, it caused huge anger around the world. it seemed like almost a provocation to lots and lots of people. what would you say to those people who argue that it was deeply irresponsible to attend that event before you'd had your pcr test result? i would say that i understand, i really do. i understand when they,

in the context of everything that was happening in australia, see the photo of me unmasked with children, when the night before, the institute of public health sent the pcr test, that i have not seen before that event, and i must say that also i was asymptomatic, so i felt fine, you know, i took the rapid antigen test that morning, as you mentioned, it was negative. i wanted to be there for the children. i know how much it means to them, you know, for me to give them an award, and they worked hard for that. that's all i can say, really, i mean, i saw my pcr positive test only few hours after that. but do you wish in retrospect that you hadn't attended that event? look, i did not see the pcr test before that. if i have seen it, i wouldn't, of course. but i understand why people are angry, because when they see something like that, it doesn't make them feel comfortable. did you know that you had covid—19 when, the next day, decemberthe 18th, you conducted an interview

and a photoshoot with l'equipe magazine at your tennis centre here in belgrade? yes, and that was a poor judgment of error that i wish i can bring back the time and and not have done it. what was your thinking? why did you go ahead with that when you knew you had covid? well, several reasons. first, because i respect l'equipe as one of the best sports paper in the world. frank, thejournalist, is somebody that i've known for many, many years, and always had a great relationship with him. and we already have organised that meeting for some quite some time, and i didn't want to let him down. should i have been more cautious? should i have advised them? absolutely. i wish i can take it back. it was my mistake, i own it, istand behind it, and i'm really sorry for that. do you remember when you were first made aware that a recent covid infection which creates antibodies would gain you a medical exemption from australia?

i am not exactly sure of the date, but i remember it was probably the second week of december that we received that circular email, where it came to our attention that if you had a previous... or recent, sorry, covid infection, that you will be eligible to apply. and one of the main arguments of your critics is that it's awfully convenient that you got this covid infection in mid—december, because that's the only way you got to play at the australian open. what would you say to those critics? i would say that i take covid very, very seriously, as really anybody else. and i assure you that i was taking pcr tests, as anybody else. i never used my privilege status in this country or any other country, and i was tested hundreds and hundreds of times since the beginning of pandemic, because that was required in order to travel and in order to, you know, do myjob

as a tennis player. i understand that there is a lot of criticism, and i understand that people come out with different theories on how lucky i was or how convenient it is. but, you know, no—one is lucky and really convenient of getting covid. i really don't like someone thinking i've misused something or in my own favour in order to, you know, get a positive pcr test and eventually go to australia. i had covid twice, the second time was asymptomatic. the first time was about a year, year and a half ago, and i had symptoms, and it wasn't easy, you know? do you worry that people have got the impression, looking at what happened in australia, looking at what happened here, looking at some of the reporting around this issue, thinking about that tournament you organised, the adria tournament, which you know, became a super—spreader event, lots of people were pictured unmasked, there wasn't social distancing respected. people look at all this stuff,

and they say, "the thing about novak djokovic is he doesn't take covid seriously." what do you say to them? that is false conclusion — i do take covid very seriously. and going back to the adria tour, we respected every single protocol, rule and policy that was put in place in serbia at that moment. so at that moment, there was no mask required, we could host an event. have you received any vaccination against covid? i have not. why? i understand, and support fully, the freedom to choose, you know, whether you want to get vaccinated or not. and i have not spoken about this before, and i have not disclosed my medical record and my vaccination status, because i have the right to keep that private and discreet. but as i see there's a lot of wrong conclusions and assumptions out there, i think it's important to speak up about that and justify certain things, right? so i was never against vaccination.

i understand that, globally, everyone is trying to put a big effort into handling this virus and seeing, hopefully, an end soon to this virus. and vaccination is probably the biggest effort that was made, probably half of the planet was vaccinated. and i fully respect that but have always represented and always supported the freedom to choose what you put into your body. and for me, that is essential. it's really the principle of understanding what is right and what is wrong for you. and me, as an elite professional athlete, i've always carefully reviewed, assessed, everything that comes in, from the supplements, food, the water that i drink, or sports drinks — anything really that comes into my body as a fuel that i can benefit from. so i take that very seriously.

there's a process of precise decision—making. and, you know, it has been like that for the last 20 years. and that allowed me to endure this much. so, based on all the information that i got, i decided not to take the vaccine, as of today. ijust don't have enough clarity of how the covid vaccine will affect me, and whether it's going to, you know, create a certain effect on my game, and i wouldn't have the benefits that i would normally have. so i just don't feel at the moment this is the right thing for me to have. that's so interesting, because the world health organization position is that the vaccine is effective across all age groups. you're not saying that you doubt that it's effective against covid—19, you're saying that you just don't know the full range of the effects that it would have inside your body, and until you have more information, you're not going to have that vaccine? that's exactly what it is. we're all trying to find, collectively, a best possible solution to end covid.

i'm part of a sport, a very global sport, that is played every single week in a different location. so, you know, i understand the consequences of my decision. and one of the consequences of my decision was not going to australia and i was prepared not to go. and i understand that not being vaccinated today... you know, i'm unable to travel to most of the tournaments at the moment, and... that's the price you're willing to pay? that is the price i'm willing to pay, yes. do you have a particular concern about this vaccine or a general view that if you have to take a vaccine it says something bad about your approach to your own health? no, i don't have anything against the general approach to vaccines. i had vaccines when i was a kid. i just feel that currently we don't have enough information about this vaccine. and as an elite athlete, i'm very mindful of what i put into my body and i made a decision that i don't want to get vaccinated at the moment. where does this come from? i'm so fascinated,

because i can see that you believe extremely strongly in the sanctity and the sovereignty of the individual and the individual�*s right to choose. where does that come from? why do you think that is? well, it perhaps has something to do with my upbringing. during the �*90s, when i started playing tennis, when i was four or five years old, we had two wars. we had embargo, sanctions, just waiting in line for bread and milk — it was a very difficult time for my family. and i chose to play the sport that is one of the most expensive sports, and a very unaffordable sport for a lot of people. my parents had to endure a lot of hardships in order to allow me to live my dream. and also when i was travelling, i had to very quickly mature and be independent and take care of myself because i could not travel with my father, or with my family members or coaches.

so many of the tournaments i've travelled alone. so you became self reliant quite young. exactly, i became self reliant from very early on. and i think that helped me to really, you know, the immigration minister alex hawke, who cancelled your visa the second time, said that you are potentially going to inspire anti—vax sentiment and the judges who unanimously upheld his decision said, and i quote, "an iconic world tennis star may influence people of all ages, young or old, but perhaps especially the young and impressionable to emulate him. this is not fanciful," they said, "it does not need evidence." what do you say to that? well, i completely disagree with that perception. and i'm really sad and disappointed that i was deported on that basis from australia. i don't know what more i can say. but you do inspire young people, novak. i do inspire people, but i never inspired people to go out on the streets and protest and be part of the anti—vax. i never inspired that. what do you say directly

to anti—vaccination campaigners around the world who proudly declare, "novak djokovic is one of us"? i say that everyone has the right to choose, to act or say whatever they feel is appropriate for them. and i have never said that i'm part of that movement. you know, no—one in the whole process during the australian saga has asked me my stance or my opinion on vaccination. no—one. so i could not really express, you know, what i feel and where my stance is, neither in the legal process, or outside. so it's really unfortunate that there has been this kind of misconception and wrong conclusion that has been made around the world, based upon, you know, something that i completely disagree with. i'm not here to sympathise with you. but i do want to understand you better.

and i can imagine, listening to you, that your experience in that detention hotel was far from pleasant. could you just talk us through what it was like? well, definitely, it wasn't pleasant. but, you know, i don't want to sit here and complain about conditions in that detention centre, because i stayed seven days, around seven days, and some people there have stayed for years. it has deeply touched me, what people in the detention centre in melbourne are going through and so, you know, my hardship was nothing close to what these people are going through. did you feel powerless? yes, i did feel powerless. when i arrived, you know, i was not allowed to use my phone for three, four hours. it was the middle of the night from 1am to 9am. didn't get any sleep, because i was going through questioning every 30 minutes, basically.

and then, of course, i stayed there for four or five days before the first court hearing. i was hoping for a good result. and the visa was reinstated, first revoked and reinstated and revoked again. so i was free for four days, and i was training. but it was not the regular kind of training days that i would normally have prior to the grand slam competition. i had helicopters flying, you know, above every single training session that i had on rod laver arena — cameras all over the place. also, my colleagues, and that really hurt me a lot, you know, because i felt that energy and those looks from my colleagues and people that were in the tennis facility. obviously, i understand that they had a perception that was based on what they were seeing from media reports. and i wasn't able, or i wasn't going out in media, because of what i previously said in respecting the legal

process and respecting the australian open. but at that time, i really wanted to speak to everyone and give my explanation. because i greatly care about the relationships with people, particularly the people that, hopefully, i'll be able to see for many years to come, cos they're my colleagues, they're my peers, they're people that i see probably at times more than my family. so it was a very uncomfortable feeling that i had during those days. let's look to the future. you say that as things stand, you don't have enough clarity about the covid—19 vaccine in order to let it enter your body. if that changes, if you get enough new information that persuades you that it's not going to cause you harm, which you don't want, would you be prepared to change your mind? there is always a possibility that things will change in the future. as of today, this is my decision and my stance for it. and i will, you know,

suffer the consequences of not travelling to the tournaments but, hopefully, things will be able to change in the future. i keep my mind open. and, you know, we'll see what happens. and longer term, are you hoping that the international regulations change and ease in order to let you travel to these tournaments? i sincerely hope so, because i would really love to play tennis because this is what i do — i'm a professional tennis player. but as things stand, if this means that you miss the french open, is that a price you'd be willing to pay? yes, that is the price that i'm willing to pay. at the moment, of course. i hope that things will change. but i'm also hoping that i can play for many more years. taking care of my body has always been the highest priority because i know that that's going to give me longevity. and i'm certain that if there's still that flair and passion and love for the game in me, and if i take care of my body,

i'll be able to have many more opportunities to play the tournaments that i miss. and if it means that you miss wimbledon this year, again, that's a price you're willing to pay? yes. ultimately, are you prepared to forego the chance to be the greatest player that ever picked up a racket, statistically, because you feel so strongly about this jab? yes. i do. why, novak, why? because the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. but do you understand why a lot of people looking at you, with admiration, what you've achieved, still only 3a — you've got a lot of tennis ahead of you — would find this baffling? they'd say they've had the jab, they've been triple jabbed. it didn't hurt, didn't affect them. they didn't have after effects. here's a guy who could win 30 grand slams, but he might end up with 21,

22, 23, because he feels so strongly about this principle of the right to choose — can you understand why people find that hard to understand? i truly understand and respect and i hope that they can respect, if they cannot understand, at least respect my decision to do so. given you're usually in grand slam finals, it must have been a strange experience for you watching rafa nadal against medvedev in the australian open final. what was it like to watch the final? presumably you saw it on tv? i didn't want to watch the match because i felt i wanted to be on the court. it was really hard for me to watch and participate in a match in, anyway, so i was very neutral, i didn't cheer for anyone, because i wanted to be there so badly. but i was amused by the circumstances that i was experiencing — my wife was cheering for medvedev, and my son was cheering for nadal.

look, you're 3a, you have a lot of tennis and life ahead of you. what do you want your legacy to be? i've been blessed with amazing results that i've made throughout my career. i hope that i can still continue to make records, break records in the future. but it's not the most essential thing and reason why i still play tennis. i play tennis because i still feel connection with the inner child, the four—year—old boy that took a racket and said, "i love this sport, i want to play it all day." i still do it in my centre today, being in a role i'm coaching kids of different ages on the court. and i always encourage them to ask questions, because it's important. you're not supposed to know everything. but if you draw the strength and the motivation from the right source, which for me is always the passion and love for the game, you will always find that necessary energy to deal with hardships

on and off the court throughout your career. you say you're not supposed to know everything, but we know a lot more about you as a result of you speaking to us. thank you very much indeed for speaking to the bbc. thank you very much for coming to belgrade. thank you. hello, there. storm dudley is set to arrive during wednesday and, after some overnight rain, we may start dry, maybe some early sunshine, but it will cloud over again. we get some heavier, more persistent rain soon coming into northern ireland, pushing into northern england and further north into scotland. to the south, though, there may not be too much

in the way of rain — particularly towards southeastern areas, and here it's going to be very mild — temperatures of 16 or 17 degrees. but as it gets milder, it also is going to get windier in many parts of the country. this is where the strongest winds are still expected to be. where we've got this amber wind warning from the met office — gusts 70, 80 miles an hour, some damage, disruption. because the winds are picking up sooner, the winds will tend to drop a little bit quicker by the time we get into thursday. so not as windy by thursday morning — still windy, butjust not as windy. sunshine and showers, maybe a bit wintry over the hills in scotland — still quite cold air here. highest temperatures in the southeast at 12 degrees. less windy on thursday, but very windy on friday.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. ukraine holds a day of national unity against the threat of russian invasion. president putin claims some troops have been withdrawn from the border — but doubts remain if russia attacks ukraine they will be met with overwhelming international condemnation. the world will not forget that russia chose needless death and destruction. settled out of court with no admission of liability — prince andrew reaches a deal with virginia giuffre who accused him of sexual assault. the american author and satirist, pj o'rourke has died at the age of 7a.