welcome to bbc news. i'm nuala mcgovern. our top stories — japan's joy: they beat spain in doha to reach the knockout stage of the world cup. cheering and applause. yells. but huge disappointment for two of europe's big hitters: germany and belgium are out. charges dropped against bruce lehrmann, the australian political advisor accused of rape, in the interests of the alleged victim's mental health. another royal row over racism raises questions as the woman accusing lady susan hussey

of �*othering' her at a formal event speaks out no matter how uncomfortable it is for other people to accept, i am very clear that i experienced racism in an environment that i should have felt safe in. in the uk, labour have retained the by—election in the city of chester with samantha dixon winning. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. we start with news from the world cup in qatar, where japan have caused their second upset of the group stage, beating spain to advance to the knockout stages of the competition. in doing so, they condemned germany to an early exit and it also meant they won their group. the key moment in the game was this, kaoru mitoma pulling the ball back for ao tanaka to score. the goal was initially ruled out before being overturned,

with officials saying it hadn't gone out of play in the build—up, as some of the pictures seemed to show. the goal came just six minutes into the second half and despite germany coming from behind to beat costa rica in the other game in the group, it isjapan and spain who progress to the last 16, to the delight of these fans in doha. so emotional, i think! we are so emotional. almost crying. the fantasy — i could not imagine that we would win against spain. i cannot imagine it. it's unbelievable now. still, i feel it is a dream now. second 45 minutes, we made it 2—1. - you see that?! unbelievable. it was miracle. before the match, i couldn't even imagine that, you know? so this is really, really amazing. let's go to tokyo now, where we can speak to tom byer. he's a former professional footballer in the japanese league and is now a youth football development specialist.

great to have you with us. what has it been like in tokyo? an has it been like in tokyo? an emotional— has it been like in tokyo? in emotional roller—coaster, has it been like in tokyo? fifi emotional roller—coaster, to say the least, and watching that game was just an amazing feat and to see the comeback that japan played feat and to see the comeback thatjapan played it feat and to see the comeback that japan played it exactly almost to the tea of what happened versus germany as well, so a big day injapan. any idea what is happening in the changing room, you know? because the second half, they come back with renewed vigor. what on earth has been said to them all, i don't know, some energy drink?— energy drink? well first off, i believe it's _ energy drink? well first off, i believe it's the _ energy drink? well first off, i believe it's the belief, - energy drink? well first off, i believe it's the belief, right? | believe it's the belief, right? when you knock off a country like germany who have been world cup champions several times now, but i think it is a very similar tactic than they played with germany and that was trying to contain them in the first half and then come out attacking by putting some attacking players on in the second half, and it worked. it definitely did. talk me through a little bit about the development of football in

japan. how would you describe it, now obviously at a high point today. but how has it been because that's something you've been involved in. what changed? you've been involved in. what chanced? , you've been involved in. what changed?— changed? is, well, the focus and emphasis _ changed? is, well, the focus and emphasis on _ changed? is, well, the focus and emphasis on technical . changed? is, well, the focus i and emphasis on technical skill development here injapan. they really started, back in the early 1990s, almost 30 years ago, making the entry level of the sport very technical. and we see that characteristic of both the men's and women's teams. i think nobody would argue when you think about the characteristics, the japanese are very skilled technically, and when you close the gap between the very best players and the least developed players, that's where the magic happens and you develop a very large, elite pool so you know, japan, it has been a long time in the making here but it's just incredible that also, we've got a lot of our players

playing in europe now so, you know, in the olden days, they use to grow up watching them play but now they are playing alongside of them so i think marrying that belief and height skills is really pushed japan to where they are today. find to where they are today. and where does _ to where they are today. and where does it _ to where they are today. and where does it figure - to where they are today. and where does it figure in japanese society? i where does it figure in japanese society? where does it figure in ja anese socie ? . , japanese society? i mean, this is 'ust a japanese society? i mean, this isjust a massive, _ japanese society? i mean, this isjust a massive, massive - isjust a massive, massive wind. especially because it happened in zohar. in the early 19905 happened in zohar. in the early 1990s for the 1994 happened in zohar. in the early i990s for the 1994 world happened in zohar. in the early 1990s for the 1994 world cup, japan lost to iraq and in exactly the same city. so everybody always has talked about that, it's been a huge, huge scar onjapanese about that, it's been a huge, huge scar on japanese football psychologically, so do now have two huge wins isjust monumental. two huge wins is 'ust monumental.fi two huge wins is 'ust monumental. ., monumental. and so that scar has healed- — monumental. and so that scar has healed. i— monumental. and so that scar has healed. i was _ monumental. and so that scar has healed. i was looking - monumental. and so that scar has healed. i was looking into| has healed. i was looking into your background, tom, and you have also worked in china, for example. what does it take for a nation to become a footballing nation? that was some of the criticism,, i

guess, level that zohar when it was awarded the fifa world cup but if you take a look at china, for example, what advice are you giving them, would you give them? —— doha. are you giving them, would you give them? -- doha.— give them? -- doha. when you look at the _ give them? -- doha. when you look at the best _ give them? -- doha. when you look at the best countries - give them? -- doha. when you look at the best countries in - look at the best countries in the world that develop the best players in the world, they win the battle, as i say, at the entry level. they have a culture of development that starts where earlier than the rest. the rest of the world believes that the battle is at the elite level and they believe they are going to close the gap between the best and the gap between the best and the worst but they rarely ever do. so if you look at, you know, there has been 92 years ago the first world cup started, 211 countries that played the sport but only eight have won a world cup championship, so it's a very, very exclusive group and if you do look at those countries, they possessed the best player development programmes and they have a culture in place that's very conducive to developing players so in china, my work with the chinese government for several years was focus on the entry level. they have over 100 million children under the age of six. ~ .,

million children under the age of six.- that's _ million children under the age of six.- that's where - million children under the age of six.- that's where the j of six. wow! that's where the focus should _ of six. wow! that's where the focus should be _ of six. wow! that's where the focus should be on _ of six. wow! that's where the focus should be on the - focus should be on the developing countries because that's where the magic happens. before i let you go, it must feel very rewarding, though, today, for you personally? flat today, for you personally? not personally _ today, for you personally? iirrt personally because it was an opportunity for me to watch this game with my two boys 14 and 16 who play here injapan and 16 who play here injapan and it was incredible, though i have to admit i cried like a baby when the final whistle blew. , ., ., baby when the final whistle blew. , ' baby when the final whistle blew. , , baby when the final whistle blew. , ' . blew. good stuff! en'oy, and en'o blew. good stuff! en'oy, and enjoy the h blew. good stuff! en'oy, and enjoy the games _ blew. good stuff! enjoy, and enjoy the games ahead. - blew. good stuff! enjoy, and l enjoy the games ahead. thank you so much for speaking to us. thank you. you so much for speaking to us. thank yon-— well, contrast the joy in japan with the misery in germany. you can see here in berlin just how disappointed they were with the outcome, with their team eliminated for the second world cup in succession at the group stage. the drama in doha wasn'tjust confined to the evening matches. the final placings in group f were decided as belgium were knocked out. the belgians came into the tournament ranked second in the world but after beating canada in their opening game, they then lost to morocco and needed to beat croatia

to go through. but that game ended goalless, sending them out. after the game, manager roberto martinez confirmed he was stepping down as boss. it also meant morocco went through as group winners, leading to wild celebrations for the african side and ensuring the continent will have at least two nations in the knockout stages. the whole morocco country are — will celebrate this big, big event. so happy. i cannot describe how i feel because it's the best guest i can have for this day. so, it's the best thing we can have. the prosecution against a former australian political adviser bruce lehrmann, who was accused of raping a colleague, brittany higgins, in australia's parliament house has been dropped.

bruce lehrmann denies sexually assaulting brittany higgins on a minister's sofa after a night out in 2019. he appeared in court in october but that trial collapsed, due tojury misconduct. a friend of brittany higgins says she is in hospital to help deal with the trauma of the incident. here's the australian capital territory�*s director of public prosecutions. —— director of public prosecutions. in light of the compelling independent medical opinion and balancing all factors, i've made the difficult decision that it made the difficult decision thatitis made the difficult decision that it is no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of the complainant's life. this has left me no option but to file a notice declining to proceed with the retrial of this matter, which i have done this morning. this brings the prosecution to an end. before concluding, during the investigation and trial as a

sexual assault complainant, ms higgins has faced the level of personal attack that i have not seenin personal attack that i have not seen in over 20 years of doing this work. she has done so with bravery, grace and dignity and it is my hope that this will now stop. and ms higgins will be allowed to heal. staying in australia, and an australian man who became the subject of a popular crime podcast has been jailed for 24 years for his wife's murder. chris dawson, who is 74, was told he would probably die in prison. 0ur correspondent in sydney phil mercer has been covering the case and joins me now. great to have you with us. i think some people will be so familiar with this story and others may be looking at it afresh so took us through —— talk us through the case and how the podcast figured. lynette dawson was married to a man called chris dawson. he was a former rugby league player and a teacher. back in 1982,

lynette dawson went missing and over the years, there was lots of speculation and police investigations about the whereabouts of this woman and what happened to her. but the real catalyst in this case came in 2018 when chris dawson was arrested and this came after the publication of the very popular podcast called the teacher's pet. it was produced by the australian newspaper and it garnered millions of downloads around the world. it became an international sensation, and in part, it led to a renewed police investigation into the disappearance of lynette dawson. now, back in august, chris dawson, who denied a charge of murder, was on trial before a judge only hearing here in new south wales and he was convicted of his wife's

murder and today, justice ian harrison has sentenced chris dawson to 24 years in prison with a minimum term of 18 years and given that chris dawson is 74 years of age, the judge did point out that chris dawson was likely to die in prison. it’s likely to die in prison. it's uuite likely to die in prison. it's quite something, - likely to die in prison. it's quite something, isn't it, really, when we think about podcast but perhaps this is just another form of new media, where perhaps newspapers would have done it before or other broadcast outlets, i suppose. i'm curious about the reaction to it. ., ., , to it. the role of the podcast did feature _ to it. the role of the podcast did feature quite _ to it. the role of the podcast did feature quite heavily - did feature quite heavily during the trial of chris dawson. thejudge, ian dawson. the judge, ian harrison, dawson. thejudge, ian harrison, was at times very scathing of the content and the behaviour of the podcast�*s producers but there is no doubt that the information is

gathered and, more importantly, the interest it garnered in the case was a catalyst for the renewed police investigation and as a result, what we've been hearing today from the judge during the sentencing hearing is that this podcast is made chris dawson one of australia's most tories prisoners and that he is subject to routine threats of violence in prison —— notorious prisoners. chris dawson always denied murder and interesting listening to the comments of thejudge today, he listening to the comments of the judge today, he said that this man was guilty of a very serious allegation. he was obsessed with a teenage babysitter and that infatuation lead to murder. and all of these elements were covered in these elements were covered in the very popular podcast the teacher's pet that has played a significant part in the conviction of this man for murder, perpetrated in 1982. phil, thank you so much for

joining us and bringing us up to date on that story. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: president biden and french president emmanuel macron pledge to face down vladimir putin it's quite clear that the worst victims of this disaster are the poor people living in the slums which have sprung up around the factory. i'm feeling so helpless that the children are dying in front of me and i can't do anything. charles manson is the mystical leader of the hippie cult suspected of killing sharon tate and at least six other people in los angeles. at 11 o'clock this morning, just half a metre of rock separated britain from continental europe. it took the drills just a few moments to cut

through the final obstacle, then philippe cozette, a minerfrom calais, was shaking hands and exchanging flags with robert fagg, his opposite number from dover. this is bbc news. the latest headlines: japan's joy after beating spain at in doha to reach the knockout stages of the world cup. here in the uk, labour have retained the by election in city of chester with samantha dixon winning with a majority of nearly 11,000. the by—election was triggered by the resignation of christian matheson who quit after parliament's watchdog recommended he be suspended for "serious sexual misconduct". it was expected that labour would retain the seat but was also seen as a test for the new conversative prime minister, rishi sunak.

here's samantha dixon reacting to her win. wa nt to want to start by saying every supportive. thank you. thank you to the returning officer, the election staff and the police. i know it's a lot of work and goes unmentioned. thank you for your endless professionalism, commitment to the democratic process. secondly, i would like to thank the hundreds of labour campaigners who have come from across the country to speak to voters in chester. special thanks to inaudible and to richard beauchamp who has worked tirelessly for years

to when this typically conservative seat for labour. applause i do apologise for the audio on that, i know it was very low but you got the idea that samantha dixon was thinking people and she has won that by—election. let us now turn to kaleigh watterson. thanks very much for staying up and bringing up this date. it was never really in doubt was it that ms dixon would win? no, before the election happened it was very much expect that it would be a labour hold. that has been a labour hold. that has been a labour seat since 2015 and out speaking to people on the streets, there were more people saying that they were going to vote for labour and the labour campaign was a lot more active. we saw a lot of shadow ministers coming to visit, we had big hitters like rachel reeves, ed miliband pledging their support and as you

mention, that 11 k majority, people from the labor party there very happy with the result, even if it wasn't completely unexpected. and i su - ose completely unexpected. and i sunpose i _ completely unexpected. and i suppose i should _ completely unexpected. and i suppose i should also - completely unexpected. and i suppose i should also say - completely unexpected. and i suppose i should also say to l completely unexpected. and i suppose i should also say to a global view is that this is a city that is in the north—west of england but it is the first time i suppose with rishi sunak as the new british prime minister, that lots of our global viewers will have been following. did they make a dent or could they make a dent in the future?— the future? that's the big question. _ the future? that's the big question, isn't _ the future? that's the big question, isn't it? - the future? that's the big question, isn't it? as - the future? that's the big question, isn't it? as you| question, isn't it? as you mentioned, just as a city in the north—west of england, one of the smaller cities here, we have bigger cities here in the north—west lake manchester and liverpool, and after the war and up until 1997 it was always very, very much a conservative seat and labour have sort of grown in their majority in recent years. what it means to the wider picture, since there

was laughter by—election in the uk injune borisjohnson was the prime minister, then we had liz truss then rishi sunak, so this could be seen as a comment on his ministership but this was not a redwall seed, it was expected to be a labour hold, it was not one that the tory party was really fighting for, don't. so it's not completely unexpected at all and it is hard to say what it means to bigger picture because we are not you a general election anytime soon, both the labour candidate and the lib dem candidate who came third, they were both keen to say that now it shows we should have a general election but obviously that case is in the prime minister's ort, netball, isn't it? so it all depends on if he will call one. but i don't think because of the result here that was that unexpected, so i don't know if we will see one anytime soon and what could make to the wider share here in the uk.

thank you so much, people very busy behind you banging stuff so i'd appreciate you persevering through that. thanks so much forjoining us. president macron says france and the us must become "brothers in arms" once more, given the return of war to europe. he was speaking during a state visit to washington, the first state visit to be hosted by presdient biden since taking office. there've been tensions between the us and france over the handling of the conflict in ukraine, but in public, it was all unity and smiles. president macron and i have resolve that we will be working together to hold us accountable for their actions and mitigate the global impact of�*s or on the global impact of�*s or on the rest of the world. let the global impact of's or on the rest of the world. let me tell ou the rest of the world. let me tell you that we _ the rest of the world. let me tell you that we will- the rest of the world. let me tell you that we will never i tell you that we will never urge — tell you that we will never urge the ukrainians to make a compromise which will not be acceptable for them. we have two respect ukrainians at the moment_ two respect ukrainians at the moment they will negotiate about— moment they will negotiate about their territory. let's get some of the day's other news.

bomb disposal experts in spain have defused a letter bomb at the us embassy — the sixth device sent to high—profile targets in less than 10 days. the authorities have now stepped up security around public buildings. as well as the us embassy, similar devices were also sent to the defence ministry, an airforce base, a weapons manufacturer and the ukrainian embassy, where a security officer was slightly injured. north korea's leader kim jong—un has sent condolences to china over the death of former president jiang zemin. according to local media there, kim said the late former head of state had supported north korea's socialist cause and helped develop relations between the two countries. the comments were reportedly sent in a letterfrom kim to current chinese president xijinping. south african president cyril ramaphosa postponed an appearance in parliament amidst growing pressure on him to resign. his no—show came just a day after an independent panel said there was evidence suggesting he'd committed "serious misconduct" after millions of dollars in cash were reportedly

stolen from his private game ranch almost three years ago. the deputy president, david mabuza, also cancelled a keynote address at a world aids day commemoration event. a black british charity campaigner who was repeatedly asked at a royal reception where she was "really" from by a senior figure in the royal household has described her experience as abuse. ngozi fulani was questioned about her background by lady susan hussey, prince william's godmother and the late queen's lady—in—waiting, at buckingham palace on tuesday. it comes as the duke and duchess of sussex prepare to release their documentary next week in what they say is the inside story of why they stepped away from royal duties. 0ur royal correspondent sarah campbell reports. i'm very clear. no matter how uncomfortable it is for other people to accept, i'm very clear that i experienced racism in an environment that i should have felt safe in,

and we need to address that. ngozi fulani was invited along with 300 other guests to a reception at buckingham palace highlighting the issue of violence against women. here she is, seen being warmly greeted by the queen consort, but earlier she says she received a very different welcome from a senior palace aide, lady susan hussey. when the lady first approached me, one of the first things she did was to take my locks and move it out of the way. no conversation at first, and then she says, "i just want to see your name badge". ms fulani, born in britain, then says she was repeatedly and aggressively questioned. "i'm from here, i was born here". "yeah, but where are you really from? "i'm really from here". "yeah, but, ok, so i can see that this is going to be "a bit of a challenge".

she said, "what's your nationality?" and i said, "lady, i was born here, i'm british". i was thinking that would be the end of it, but no. lady susan hussey, seen here in blue, was a lady in waiting to queen elizabeth for six decades. yesterday, she resigned from her honorary role within the royal household and offered her profound apologies for the hurt caused. lady hussey is also prince william's godmother. today the royal couple's visit to the us city of boston continued. the headlines were supposed to be about his earthshot prize, the award he founded for environmental innovations. but instead, accusations of racism have had once again to be addressed. and today, the promise of more royal revelations. no—one sees what's happening behind closed doors. netflix released the first look at it six—part series starring the duke and duchess of sussex which will, according to the

streaming giant... when the stakes were this high, doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us? ..look at the challenges which forced them to step back as senior royals. sarah campbell, bbc news. before we leave you, it was a big night in london last night, the famous mobo awards ceremony was held, which celebrates the best in international black musical talent. music lifetime achievement awards went to the founder of chic, nile rodgers, here performing their classic hit, good times at the event. the annual event recognises achievements across rap, hip—hop and many other genres. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcnuala.

to stay with us if you can, we have headlights coming up again injust a few have headlights coming up again in just a few minutes time. hello. fog has been quite a big feature of our weather over the last few days. in some places, quite persistent and reluctant to clear and there will be fog around to start friday morning once again. however, that fog should start to lift and clear to give some spells of sunshine with a bit more of a breeze developing. but a really murky start for parts of east wales, the midlands down into the west country. but there is some mist and fog and low clouds to be found elsewhere as well. through the day though, with the easterly breeze starting to pick up, some of that mist and murk and low cloud will lift to give a bit more in the way of sunshine. some showers feeding into eastern england. northern england likely to stay quite cloudy for much of the time.

similar story for scotland, rather grey and drizzly. a little bit of brightness developing out towards the west. northern ireland should see some sunshine — highs of ten degrees there for belfast. feeling colder than that if it stays grey and murky where you are. now through friday night, we keep this easterly breeze. that will feed some showers into eastern parts of england, particularly some clear spells. not as much fog by this stage because of the extra breeze. temperatures generally holding above freezing. some places may see a touch of frost. high pressure way to the north—east of us centred across northern europe. but that is just about dominating the weather at the moment, fending off the frontal systems for the most part. however, this band of cloud could bring a little bit of patchy rain to northern ireland and certainly northwest scotland through saturday. and at the other end of the country we'll see some cloud just filtering in from the near continent, bringing maybe some bits and pieces of rain and drizzle into southern counties of england. elsewhere, some spells of sunshine, some showers in the east and feeling quite chilly in the easterly breeze, which will still be with us into sunday.

i think we'll see more of that cloud feeding up from the south. quite cloudy for many of us, actually. best of the sunshine in the west. there will also be some showers, some of which could be wintry over higher ground. top temperatures around five, six or seven degrees. just a taste of what is to come next week because it looks pretty likely that we'll see north or north—easterly winds feeding a plunge of cold air across the uk. and that brings with it the chance of some wintry showers. now, the details of the forecast will change between now and then. and there should be a lot of dry weather around, but some wintry showers are possible and it is set to feel really quite cold.

this is bbc news. the headlines — joy forjapan as they beat former champion spain 2—1 in doha to reach the knockout stage of the world cup. fans gathered in a fanzone to watch the match and after were seen celebrating in the streets. spain also go through, but the result means that germany are out of the tournament. the case against a former political adviser accused of raping a colleague inside australia's parliament building has been dropped because of concerns for his alleged victim's mental health. the adviser, bruce lehrmann, denied sexually assaulting brittany higgins in a government minister's office in march 2019. a royal row over racism has been raising questions

in the uk after a woman accused honorary royal