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. but huge disappointment for two of europes�* big hitters, germany and belgium are out. a0 years after the disappearance of a woman in australia, her husband who became the subject of a popular crime podcast has been jailed for 2h years for murder. another royal row over racism raises questions as the woman accusing lady susan hussey of othering her at a formal

event speaks out. limit to how uncomfortable it is for other people to accept, i am very clear. i experienced racism in an environment i should have felt safe in. ——no matter how uncomfortable. in the uk, labour have retained the by—election in the city of chester with samantha dixon winning. 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 top 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 ta na ka scored.

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. that thrilled these fans in tokyo, and the supporters who watched the game in qatar were also delighted. 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. tom byer is a former professional footballer,

who's played injapan�*s j—league, and is now a youth development specialist based in tokyo. i asked him what the mood has been like on the ground in japan. watching the game was an amazing feat and seeing the comeback thatjapan amazing feat and seeing the comeback that japan played, almost exactly to the tea what happened versus germany as well so a big day injapan. firm; happened versus germany as well so a big day in japan.— so a big day in japan. any idea what is happening _ so a big day in japan. any idea what is happening and - so a big day in japan. any idea what is happening and the - what is happening and the changing room? because the second half, they come back with renewed vigor, what on earth has been said to them or i don't know, some energy drink? i don't know, some energy dfink? , i don't know, some energy drink? , ., ., ,, drink? first of all i guess it is the belief, _ drink? first of all i guess it is the belief, right? - drink? first of all i guess it is the belief, right? whenl drink? first of all i guess it i is the belief, right? when you knock off a country like germany who has been world cup champions several times now, but i think it is a very similar tactic that they played with germany and that was to try to contain them in the first half and then come out attacking by putting some attacking by putting some attacking players on the second half and it worked. it half and it worked. it definitely did. talk me through

a little bit about the development of football in japan copy how would you describe now, obviously at a high point today, but how has it been? because that is something you have been involved in, what changed? the focus and _ involved in, what changed? tue: focus and emphasis involved in, what changed? tte: focus and emphasis on technical skill development here in japan. they really started back in the early 1990s almost 30 years ago, while 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 that when you think about the characteristics, the japanese are very skilled technically and when you close that gap between the very best players in the list developed players, thatis in the list developed players, that is where the magic happens and you develop a very large elite player pool. so japan, it has been a long time in the making here but it is just incredible that also we've got a lot of our players playing in europe now, so in the olden

days they used to grow up watching them play but now they are playing alongside them, so i think having that belief and very high technical skills has really pushed japan to where they are today. well contrast the joy injapan 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 goaless 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. we will celebrate this big, big event. 50 we will celebrate this big, big event, ., , ,y we will celebrate this big, big event. ., , _ ., event. so happy, i cannot describe _ event. so happy, i cannot describe how _ event. so happy, i cannot describe how i _ event. so happy, i cannot describe how i feel, - event. so happy, i cannot i describe how i feel, because event. so happy, i cannot - describe how i feel, because it is the — describe how i feel, because it is the best thing we can have on this— is the best thing we can have on this day. coming up on friday in qatar, the last round of group games. brazil have already qualified, but any of the other three teams in group g could still make it through. and it's a similar story in group h, where portugal's progress is assured, but any one of ghana, uruguay or south korea could join them in the knockout stages. much more detail on the special world cup section of our website, just log on to bbc.com/news and click through, or download the bbc app.

the prosecution against a former australian political adviser bruce lehrmann, who was accused of raping a colleague, britanny 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 to jury misconduct. a friend of brittany higgins says she is in hospital to help deal with the trauma of the incident and that while it is disappointing the trial has ended this way, brittany�*s health and safety must always come first. here's the australian capital territory�*s director of public prosecutions. in light of the compelling independent medical opinion and balancing all factors, i've 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 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 2h years for his wife's murder. chris dawson, who is 7a, was told he would probably die in prison. 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 2a years in prison with a minimum

term of 18 years and given that chris dawson is 7a years of age, thejudge did point out that chris dawson was likely to die in prison. it's quite something, isn't it, really, when we think about podcasts? 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. the role of the podcast did feature quite heavily during the trial of chris 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 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 thejudge during the sentencing hearing

is that this podcast is made chris dawson one of australia's most notorious prisoners and that he is subject to routine threats of violence in prison. chris dawson always denied murder and interesting 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 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.

stay with us on bbc news, still to come: president biden is hosting france's emmanuel macron at the white house, we'll look at what might be on the political menu at the state dinner. 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 numberfrom dover. welcome back to bbc news. here in the uk, the main opposition labour party have retained the parliamentary seat of chester in the north west of england in a by—election. their candidate, samantha dixon, won with a majority of nearly 11,000 — that's more than the margin of victory at the general election three years ago. this vote was triggered by the resignation of christian matheson, who quit after parliament's watchdog recommended he be suspended for "serious sexual misconduct". here's labour's samantha dixon reacting to her win. people in chester and across our country are really worried.

worried about losing their homes because they can't afford the mortgage repayments or the rent, worried about whether they can put the heating on, worried whether they can put food on the table for their families. this is the cost for 12 years of conservative government. a government which has wreaked havoc with our economy, destroyed our public services and betrayed the people who put their trust in them for the last general election ——at the last general election. election --at the last general election. , ., ., election --at the last general election-— election --at the last general election. , ., ., . election. sorry the audio was a little low there _ election. sorry the audio was a little low there but _ election. sorry the audio was a little low there but ms - election. sorry the audio was a little low there but ms dixon . little low there but ms dixon was talking about the rising cost of living among other issues as she reacted to her wind. —— issues as she reacted to her win. 0ur correspondent kaleigh watterson was at the count, and she gave me the details. before the election happened, it was very much expect that it would be a labour hold. you know, this hasb 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 here, you know, pledging their support and as you mention, that 11k majority, people from the labour party there very happy with the result, even if it wasn't completely unexpected. a little noisy behind kayleigh there as well as people start to take things down after the election. a black british charity campaigner who was repeatedly asked at a royal reception at buckingham palace on tuesday where she was "really" from by a senior figure in the royal household has described her experience as t. abuse" ngozi fulani was questioned about her background by lady susan hussey. lady susan is one of prince william's godmothers and the late queen's lady—in—waiting. 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've 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 locs 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 its six—part series starring the duke and duchess of sussex which will, according to the streaming giant... when the stakes are 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. the us supreme court says it will review the legality of presidentjoe biden�*s plan to cancel student loan debt for millions of americans. the president's flagship plan has been blocked by lower courts following legal challenges by several republican—controlled states. 0ral arguments in the case are slated to begin in february, with a decision expected by late june. 0ur news reporter azadeh moshiri joins us now. some people might not remember

this plan, there was a really big deal in the states. talk us through what he is proposing. they would remember because it is a really big endeavour and if it goes through, it would be one of the most expensive executive actions in us history. it is estimated to cost about $400 billion. but it's really important to president biden because this is a plan the democrats run on in the run—up to the midterms because it appeals to so many young voters. let's take a look at the figures because they are quite significant. if the plan goes through, $10,000 in federal student loans would be forgiven. that's for anyone who earns less than $125,000 per year. now, in addition to that figure, another $10,000 would be forgiven for anyone who was awarded a pell grant. that's for anyone who is awarded this grant because they are in

exceptional financial need. grant because they are in exceptionalfinancial need. so exceptional financial need. so naturally, exceptionalfinancial need. so naturally, the uptick has been very high for this. 16 million applications have been approved so far. now, when you look at those figures, for our audiences in america, they may not seem that surprising but for audiences in some other parts of the world, these are really big loans that we are talking about so they are really big debts that are hanging over people, millions of people in the us, and while all of this is in limbo, it means all of these millions of people, including the millions more who have applied so far, are in limbo, unable to make really fine end of —— unable to make really important financial decisions about the future. you sa the decisions about the future. you say the court — decisions about the future. you say the court will _ decisions about the future. you say the court will review it. is there any indication of how they may look at a case like this, or any president? this is a bench that _ this, or any president? this is a bench that generally - this, or any president? this is a bench that generally does . this, or any president? this is i a bench that generally does not like to give the executive much leeway. it does come down to what the supreme court thinks about the pandemic, whether the united states is still in a pandemic emergency, and that's

because of the way the bible emergency is getting the programme through. in march 2020 when the pandemic began, the trump administration issued an emergency declaration. it allows the education secretary to waive a student loan regulations because it argued that the country was in a time of war or national emergency but these republican states are saying the biden administration has been saying the pandemic is aware and liking about to normal and so i cannot have it either way, either we are in emergency or are not, so the supreme court, this bench, has ruled on similar cases before, ones that are related to pandemic relief, and when it came to a moratorium on student, on evictions last year, they ruled against it. this is definitely a big hurdle that president biden has to get over. . ~' that president biden has to get over. . ~ , ., that president biden has to get over. . ~ i. . over. thank you so much, explaining _ over. thank you so much, explaining that _ over. thank you so much, explaining that to - over. thank you so much, explaining that to us. - over. thank you so much, l explaining that to us. that's one of the stories we are covering. 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 president 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 resolved that we are going to continue working together to hold russia accountable for their actions and to mitigate their actions and to mitigate the global impacts of priddin's war on the rest of the world. let me tell you that we will never — let me tell you that we will never urge the ukrainians to make — never urge the ukrainians to make a _ never urge the ukrainians to make a compromise which would not be _ make a compromise which would not be acceptable for them. we have _ not be acceptable for them. we have to — not be acceptable for them. we have to respect the ukrainians to respect the moment in the negotiations which they will negotiate about their territory and their future. the two leaders have since changed and been joined by their first ladies for a state dinner at the white house. 0n the menu, american cheese and sparkling wine and lobsters, along with vegetables grown in the white house garden. as for what might be on the political agenda, my colleague laura trevelyan

has been chewing it over. speaks french. it is lovely to have you here on the occasion of the first state dinner at president biden's administration and once again president macron of france is the person who gets the invite. now, for ourfirst course, we have got foie gras. what could be more french. don't know if it will be on the agenda at the state banquet, it may be a bit controversial, but i think what will be on the agenda when the two presidents talk is definitely ukraine. resident crime, here years, trying to keep open a channel of communication with president putin, by russia's invasion of ukraine. t putin, by russia's invasion of ukraine. ~ �* , ukraine. i think it's interesting - ukraine. i think it's| interesting because ukraine. i think it's - interesting because the us position lately evolves more

in, to be more in agreement with the french position. the us now in washington are pushing for a diplomatic solution. i don't want to look about putting pressure on zelensky but they talk more about a diplomatic solution. tres bien. voila. the beef in this situation, if i may be so bold, is the green energy bill. with all of these tax credits for american industry, the french across, why? europeans are upset _ french across, why? europeans are upset about _ french across, why? europeans are upset about this _ french across, why? europeans are upset about this agreement are upset about this agreement are for this green energy bill because it will be the contentious, really contentious issue of the visit because the bill, it was adopted last summer, gives large tax credits to us manufacturer products, for instance electric cars. and so the europeans are afraid of the impact it is going to have

on their economies so emmanuel macron is going to ask president biden for an exemption. what we hearfrom the white house side you cannot expect a miracle. i don't think there will be a big gesture. maybe small gesture. but it's really going to be the most difficult conversation. fih. difficult conversation. 0h, tres bien- _ difficult conversation. 0h, tres bien. the _ difficult conversation. 0h, tres bien. the dessert. i difficult conversation. 0h, tres bien. the dessert. after all the hard grind on the state visit president macron will have some fun, isn't hey? he will be showcasing france in america and going off to new orleans? ., , , america and going off to new orleans? . , , ., orleans? new orleans is going to be the most _ orleans? new orleans is going to be the most probably i to be the most probably colourful part of his trip and the most fun part. he's going to get to walk around french quarter and meet with musicians from new orleans who speak french and artists so it's going to be really fun part. to the french— american speaks

french. spending a little time at the restaurant with laura and her guest. thanks watching. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @bbcnuala. 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. a 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... japan have beaten spain 2—1 in doha to reach the knockout stage of the world cup. fans gathered in a fan zone to watch the match and then took to the streets to celebrate. spain also go through, but the result means that germanyjoin belgium in going 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 lady susan hussey of "othering" her at an event at buckingham palace.

the controversy comes as prince william and kate attend events in the us.