at ten — the prince and the alleged chinese spy. the duke of york maintains "he met the man through official channels, and nothing of a sensitive nature, was ever discussed." some believe this was audacious bid by the chinese state, to infiltrate the very top of british society? dominic casciani has the very latest. was this an attempt to delete capture to bed an agent inside the royalfamily?

panel of newsnighters, and of course look at what the papers are saying about tomorrow's news. with a chinese businessman, who's been banned from the uk, accused of being a spy. in a statement this evening, the prince said "he'd met

the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed, and he's now acted on the advice of the government, after concerns were raised." china has condemned the decision to ban the businessman, who's been described as a close confidant of the duke's, and who received an invitation to the prince's birthday party in 2020. he'd also been told he could act on behalf of the prince, when dealing with potential investors in china. dominic casciani, has our top story. a prince under pressure again. this time over his relationship with a mystery businessman we are not allowed to name now revealed to be a likely spy targeting the royal family. forten likely spy targeting the royal family. for ten years prince andrew promoted the uk's relationship with china. this was his investment tour in china. from entrepreneurs to state visits, here with xi jinping,

the duke forged closer ties with delegates in a difficult diplomatic relationship. that relationship is under new strain. a man working for the chinese communist party's intelligence operations has been banned from the uk. he had targeted the duke in an operation to influence him. in 2020, he became a close confident with an unusual degree of trust, working with this man, the duke's adviser, dominic hampshire. he gave him the green light to act for the duke in talks with chinese investors. when the security services became suspicious and searched his phone, they found evidence he was a state agent, a conclusion that doesn't surprise experts. conclusion that doesn't surprise exerts. , , conclusion that doesn't surprise exerts. ,, , , ., ., ., experts. typically they would go for members of — experts. typically they would go for members of the _ experts. typically they would go for members of the house _ experts. typically they would go for members of the house of _ experts. typically they would go for members of the house of lords - experts. typically they would go for members of the house of lords ori members of the house of lords or prominent business people or people who, you know, have a voice in the community. it is quite ambitious to target a member of the royal family and quite unwise for a member of the

royalfamily to allow and quite unwise for a member of the royal family to allow himself to be targeted. the royal family to allow himself to be tarueted. . ., royal family to allow himself to be tarueted. _, ., royal family to allow himself to be tarueted. . ., ., ., royal family to allow himself to be tarueted. u, ., ., , targeted. the court found that h six had been in — targeted. the court found that h six had been in a _ targeted. the court found that h six had been in a position _ targeted. the court found that h six had been in a position to _ targeted. the court found that h six had been in a position to generate l had been in a position to generate relationships with prominent uk figures which could be leverage to full political interference purposes. there was a letter from dominic hampshire, he told h six... h6 also had a note on how to handle the duke himself. counter espionage investigators fear is the duke had been a target of elite capture, that is the chinese communist party's operation to seek influence across british life. so the home secretary used her exceptional powers reserved for the most serious national security cases

to ban the uk. mis�*s chief has warned of the scale of china's information and intelligence gathering in the uk. we information and intelligence gathering in the uk. we see the chinese authorities _ gathering in the uk. we see the chinese authorities playing - gathering in the uk. we see the chinese authorities playing the l gathering in the uk. we see the - chinese authorities playing the long game and cultivating contacts to manipulate opinion in china's favour. seeking to influence prominent people across the political landscape, but early in people's careers and life, garnering a debt. ~ , people's careers and life, garnering adebt. , a debt. with the chinese embassy has cold the allegations _ a debt. with the chinese embassy has cold the allegations a _ a debt. with the chinese embassy has cold the allegations a baseless - cold the allegations a baseless smear. as for prince andrew, he withdrew from public life after his newsnight interview over his relationship with the now dead sex offenderjeffrey epstein. that relationship raised questions of judgment and now another relationship has led to more. the prince made his first comments on all of this injust prince made his first comments on all of this in just the last few hours. what exactly did he say? this

is a statement _ hours. what exactly did he say? ti 3 is a statement from his office. it says the duke of york has ceased all contact with the businessman after he received advice from the government after concerns were raised the duke had met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. there is a thing at the bottom of the statement which says he cannot discuss security matters. he said, when i was told about this i cut the ties. but these are hiuhl about this i cut the ties. but these are highly sensitive _ about this i cut the ties. but these are highly sensitive issues. - about this i cut the ties. but these i are highly sensitive issues. someone at the very highest level must have decided that all of this should come out and be public. this decided that all of this should come out and be public.— out and be public. this is often a difficult calculation _ out and be public. this is often a difficult calculation within - out and be public. this is often a difficult calculation within the - difficult calculation within the security service. they want most of their operations to stay discreet and private and confidential because if you keep them that way, by definition, you are reducing the risk that your enemies know what you are trying to achieve. there is a necessity to that but sometimes in some situations the security services feel they have no choice but to basically ask the home

secretary to hit a great big button cold banning order and in this case they felt this the option to deal with this person, known only as h6 was to ask the home secretary to exclude him from the uk because he was a threat to national security. this meant it would come out in court if he appealed which is what he has done. you get this public disclosure of the case. his complaint he is a innocent victim in all of this. but it put it out there, which is damaging to the prince because this is out there. something else has happened tonight. there is a report in the times which we have here and we need to corroborate this but the times is reporting that the individual was allowed to visit buckingham palace along with prince andrew and windsor castle. we know he went to the prince's birthday party a few years ago but we don't know if... but this raises the question about how far he

got into effectively the heart of the british establishment. thank you ve much. for the first time, front line police officers have spoken to the bbc about the personal impact of this summer's riots. officers from cleveland police says middlesbrough felt like "a warzone" on one of the worst days of violence, august 4th. some told us they thought they'd be killed. this special report from ed thomas includes footage and radio communications given to us by the police from that day. i was screaming at them, "hold the line, hold the line!" and they were there with the shield, with people trying to, like, set them on fire. and, you know what i mean? it was just horrific. and they smashed every car window, regardless of race, colour. they were just on a rampage. rocks, bricks, burning bins. absolute carnage. for the first time, front line officers... shouting. ..talk about the emotional and physical impact of policing this summer's riots. we've got officers being assaulted

here, punches to the face... in middlesbrough, 1,000 protesters faced off with around 125 officers. we need more units... people offering moneyl to burn police cars out. we just couldn't hold the line. they were just pushing forward with such force. rallying calls of "we need to arm lourselves" and "if the police tryl and stop us, we're going to go over the mi) of them" _ 0n the ground, chief inspector zoe kelsey was outnumbered and under pressure. zoe, hold the line. hold the line where you're at. talk about the thin blue line, and it was very thin on that day. it really was. we need some units here on the right flank. they're just coming past our cops. dozens of them. extra officers from yorkshire and northumbria were rushed in to boost numbers. it's like being in a war zone for eight hours, but you've just got a shield and a stick. whoa! streets trashed, shops looted. these guys are literally lighting up a bin. rioters even tried to set officers on fire. what's the reason for the bin?

for the police? yeah, light it on fire... so every time the wheelie bin went in that was set on fire, _ the cheers were there. if someone got, like, a brick here in the face, it would be like, "yay!" they saw that we represented law and order, the government, and that's what they were fighting. i don't think they stopped to think that we were humans behind that uniform. after two hours of relentless battles... we've got an officer who's down. ..a police officer collapsed. potential heart attack. need an ambulance urgently. over the radio, we heard someone say something about a heart attack. when this was happening, we were in the middle of one of the streets, like, fighting again with our shields and going forward and having things thrown at us. coming to you with a defib. he's on the floor, he's laid in his pants and socks, - and there's two officers there, sort of working on him. - zoe was one of them. cut all his pads off him

and his clothes and put the defib things on him. i wasjust holding his hand, and i was just saying, "you're going to be all right. you're going to be all right." and it was awful. i didn't think he was going to make it. my mind had gone, i would say, for that short period of time. i that night, i went home, i couldn't sleep at all, and i couldn't sleep, and i didn't know if he was dead or alive or... and luckily he's on my facebook, so i could, i rang him in the morning and he answered, and i was just, that was just... ifelt so much better when i heard it. so, yeah, he's 0k. in middlesbrough, children took part in the violence. chaos livestreamed on social media. on this crossroads, a roadblock was set up. are you white? are you white actually? the rioter in the red t—shirt and scarf, nowjailed, is asking drivers if they are white. you white?

laughter. homes trashed, filmed for likes and clicks on social media. these are the people that draw everything out of the community, draw the life and soul out of the community, give nothing but take everything. smashing. the people that commit the anti—social behaviour, the hardcore element of this disruptive group were them people. how do you describe them? personally, parasites. i think society needs — personal opinion — to have a good look at itself, because they have created what we're suffering now. a town under siege. just got bags of bricks. they're arming themselves. anger and violence repeated across the country. 0fficers left injured and traumatised. i didn't sleep for months after. i couldn't sleep. i went on holiday with my family. i think it was probably day two or day three, |

ijust felt as though ijust sort of hit the floor, if you like. i it felt as though i could have just broke down, to be honest. - it was really traumatic for everyone involved. really traumatic. can you cope with doing all that again? yes. i don't even need to think about that one. am i ready? are the officers ready? yeah. ed thomas with that special report. tens of thousands of syrians have been on the streets of towns and cities across the country, including the capital, damascus, to celebrate the overthrow of the assad regime. such scenes were unthinkable only a week ago. today saw the first friday prayers since rebel groups took power in the country, after which people were urged to go out and express theirjoy. jeremy bowen has more from damascus. this ancient city has seen countless upheavals over five millennia. for modern syria, though, with its old flag restored, nothing matches the fall of the assads.

the end of the first week without an assad in charge since 1970 brought thousands of syrians into the umayyad mosque to thank god for their deliverance. the chant is, "the people want the execution of bashar." the regime's collapse and liberation from assad to's brutal security —— the regime's collapse and liberation from assad's brutal security state are powering a sense of great optimism. for all the people here, this puts the seal on it. this is absolute proof that they have won and the regime has gone. just flying one of these black, white and green flags a couple of weeks ago could have got you arrested, jail time, or even a bullet. the fighters of hayat tahrir al—sham — hts — are still basking in their achievement. that white flag used by syrian islamist fighters was also

behind the new prime minister in a broadcast. hts insists it has renounced its former extremist ideology. some syrians do not believe them. samir, overwhelmed, back from britain after 44 years, is hoping for a tolerant future. it is our country, this is not al—assad country. he is gone now. i don't know how we are going to resolve it. he has been corrupting this country for 50 years, but these are the people who are going to build the country, so wish us luck. everyone in the world. and please, please, leave us alone. leave us alone, 0k? we appreciate your support, but we don't want anyone to interfere with our decisions, what we are going to do. this is their decision. syria's future is full of challenges. hts is an islamist group. what will that mean for girls and women? how do syrians getjustice for the regime's crimes? they meant it when they call for assad's execution before the prayer.

their new rulers told them to celebrate the blessed revolution, so they did. revolution, so they did. syrians understand it won't be easy syrians understand it won't be easy to understand it won't be easy to understand it won't be easy to overcome 50 years of dictatorship to overcome 50 years of dictatorship and 1a years of war. and 1a years of war. but this was a day but this was a day to seize and enjoy. to seize and enjoy. thousands converged on umayyad thousands converged on umayyad square in the centre of damascus. square in the centre of damascus. it is as if an enormous weight has it is as if an enormous weight has been lifted off a nation. been lifted off a nation. i have never seen so many i have never seen so many smiling people in syria. smiling people in syria. we are free! we are free! we are feeling the we are feeling the feelings of freedom! feelings of freedom! we never feel like this. we never feel like this. i want all the world to see us! i want all the world to see us! we are free now. we are free now. south, north, we are free. south, north, we are free. the fighters are the heroes now, bringing their kids, posing for photos with other people's, but when the party is over, people need to eat, in an economy smashed by war and corruption. i asked this woman and her daughters what they need.

just needed freedom, no taxes, no stolen money taken from us. we just want to be independent. we want to be an independent people. syria is an independent country. nobody controls us. nobody can rule us, just the syrians themselves. it is too soon for firm answers to syria's problems, but the placard set an agenda, bring the assads to justice, civil rights for all, and syria is for every syrian, no matter who they are. jeremy bowen, bbc news, damascus. america's top diplomat, antony blinken, says he'll work to prevent a resurgence of the islamic state group in syria, following the collapse of the assad regime. he made an unannounced visit to iraq today, where he met the prime minister, mohammed al—sudani, in baghdad. after their talks, mr blinken said iraq understood the dangers of a revitalised is more than any other country.

and there'll be more on syria shortly on newsnight, over on bbc two, with faisal. the israeli military says it's investigating what happened. israel doesn't allow journalists unrestricted access to gaza. jon donnison has more from jerusalem. already injured in a previous attack, this is doctor saeed jouda speaking last month.

reported to be the last orthopaedic surgeon in northern gaza. a grandfather who came out of retirement to help during the war. "save us," it says on the placard. it didn't work. translation: on his way to the hospital to evaluate a patient, one of the tanks fired on doctor saeed directly. unfortunately, he was killed instantly. some witnesses say he was shot by a drone. the israeli military says it's investigating. this is the kamal adwan hospital in northern gaza, where doctorjouda did much of his work. it has few supplies, few doctors, but endless patients. the area injabalia has been under siege and under bombardment by israeli forces for months, in an effort, they say, to stop hamas from regrouping. israel does not allow foreign journalists unrestricted access to gaza.

they're coming under continued bombardment in these hospitals. but from jerusalem, i got through to the main united nations aid agency there. devastating for his family. it's devastating for people in the north who are relying on so few doctors and such few resources available. hospitals in the gaza strip are not hospitals any more. they keep using this term 'partially functioning'. but if you and i were to step in these hospitals, you wouldn't recognise anything about it to resemble a hospital. there is no sanitation. there are hardly any doctors. there's no medical equipment. patients are dying needlessly. much of northern gaza is an apocalyptic wasteland, but israel's offensive is not over. jon donnison, bbc news, jerusalem. the uk economy shrank for the second

month in a row in october, by 0.1%. hospitality and retail sectors were weak. the chancellor, rachel reeves, described the figures as "disappointing". the conservatives say her budget is to blame for "crashing the economy". here's dharshini david. there is a budget coming in october, and it's going to be painful. was it this thorny comment from the prime minister back in downing street's rose garden in august that sent an autumn chill across the economy? as pre—budget anxiety took hold, the recovery unravelled for many businesses in october, including this menswear retailer in hitchin. we're starting to see, you know, in the winter and we've had a change of government, budgets have changed and it's got tougher and tougher, and we just want to hear more good news, not bad news. well, that chill was widespread, denting retail, manufacturing and construction, meaning the economy shrank by 0.1% in october. and look back at our monthly performance.

0ur growth has run out of steam since the start of the year. 0ur income — or gdp — is slightly smaller than when labour took office. the chancellor has admitted that's disappointing and says she hopes people will feel better off soon. the government's targeting boosting living standards or income. 0fficial projections suggest we're each likely to be £300 better off by 2030 after inflation. that, however, would be the second worst performance of any parliament. while the chancellor hopes that the £70 billion extra poured into public services and investment by 2030 will boost fortunes, there are growing fears that her £40 billion of tax rises will hit the private sector through wage growth, jobs, profits and prices harder than expected. it's not possible to turn around more than a decade of poor economic growth and stagnant living standards in just a few months. this government's constant talking

down of the uk economy is coming through in these numbers. and so it's no surprise that businesses right up and down the country are now sounding the alarm. economists warn it could be a flat festive season, with businesses tightening their belts ahead of those tax rises, and wary of risks, including a possible trade war with america. the challenge is to raise our game as we go into 2025. dharshini david, bbc news. two men have been arrested after a christmas fairground ride crashed to the ground in birmingham last night. two women on the city star flyer needed hospital treatment, while another 11 people were treated at the scene. the men, aged 55 and 21, are being questioned on suspicion of perverting the course ofjustice and obstructing officers. royal mail has been fined £10.5 million for delivering millions of items late. the regulator, 0fcom, said the poor service was "eroding public trust" in one of the uk's oldest institutions.

the fine is nearly double the penalty paid by the company last year. royal mail says it's carried out "substantial" reforms. a coroner has ruled that a former british paratrooper who travelled to ukraine to help the war effort was unlawfully killed by a man fighting on the same side. a post—mortem examination found daniel burke, who was 36 and from manchester, died from multiple gunshot wounds. his killer, who is of algerian and australian nationality, is now on the run, having told ukrainian police he shot daniel burke while the pair were practicing drills. the way dan's life was taken was a cowardly act. so many unanswered questions. the man in question has admitted murder but still no action from the ukrainian or australian authorities. he didn't deserve to go out like this. this festive season, there's a new warning for people to be

careful with our phones when using public transport. the bbc has learnt that robberies and thefts on trains and at stations in england, scotland and wales have nearly trebled since 2018. sean dilley was granted rare access to the plain clothes police officers targeting phone snatchers. captured — these suspected phone snatchers are coming in. they were seen wearing balaclavas, forcing their way through ticket gates. bleep took your money. 0fficers searched the men and found an expensive smartphone. it's wrapped up in tinfoil to try and block the signal, so it can't be located or traced for the stolen items. it's a great result for the violent crime taskforce. how good does it feel when you catch a phone snatcher? it's a good feeling because loads of phone snatches and phone thefts happen up and down the network every day. and when you do actually get one,

it's a little win for the team. and also hopefully a victim can be reunited with their phone, because they're not cheap. the majority of thefts and robberies are reported in london. but outside the capital, the areas with the next most reported crimes are birmingham, kent, essex and manchester, with offences taking place across the network in england, wales and scotland. niall mcnamee had his phone snatched on the 15th of october. just as the doors were about to close at 0val station, where we are, my phone was just swiped out of my hand and the doors closed. the thieves cracked his passcode, plundered his online bank accounts and used his details to apply for a personal loan. all told, they stole £21,000. my phone was nicked. i had no idea that they were going to take all that money and take out a loan. for some reason, it's a big violation.

no suspect has been identified and the case is closed. back with the violent crime taskforce, the two arrested men have been linked with an earlier robbery. police advice is, if you must have your phone out, always pay attention to your surroundings. look around you and don't make it easier for robbers and thieves. sean dilley, bbc news. the home nations have found out whom they'll be taking on in the qualifying rounds for the men's 2026 football world cup. it's being held in the united states, mexico and canada. natalie pirks has more on the draw. each world cup claims to be the biggest, but 2026 will be. a record 48 teams will compete, and a record 16 of them will be from europe. he's missed it! england fell at the quarterfinals in qatar, but now thomas tuchel has the reins. england. whilst england will be the favourites in group k, the new boss says there's no such thing as a done deal. the smaller nations become stronger and stronger, so we have to earn our place,

we have to earn our top spot, of course. it's been 26 years since scotland's men last made it to football's biggest stage. the tartan army will be hoping for more of this when they face either portugal or denmark, a resurgent greece and belarus from september. qatar was only wales' second world cup in history. a group stage exit there means unfinished business, but under new management they're in good form. they'll have to put the miles in, though. it's an eight—hour plus flight to kazakhstan. northern ireland. and michael 0'neill�*s men have been handed a mouth—watering, albeit tricky, tie against four—time winners germany or italy. and he's now slipped. not since 1986 has the green and white army descended on a world cup, but their manager is optimistic of at least making the play—offs. when you get drawn with germany or italy, it's always a difficult one to, you know, imagine that you can top the group. but obviously, look, we look at slovakia and luxembourg

and we would believe that we could challenge to finish second in the group. no second place for saudi arabia this week. fifa handed them 2034 world cup hosting duties as the sole bidders. despite concerns around human rights records, the home nations all backed the kingdom's bid. it wasn't a difficult decision. i think it was a very thorough process. we spent a lot of time with the saudis, understanding their approach to the tournament. we asked a lot of questions. they gave us a lot of time, and they gave us a lot of commitments. good luck to you all and we'll see you there. world cup qualifiers look set to be a more competitive process. natalie pirks, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. here's chris. it was a pretty spectacular end to what has been quite a drab day, this was a fantastic sunset picture from the highlands of scotland and i love it because this is actually illuminating a cold front, this one

which will be moving southwards, responsible for breaking up the cloud so there will be a bit more sunshine than we've been used to so far this week tomorrow. at the moment, that front is around far this week tomorrow. at the moment, that front is around southern scotland but it continues southern scotland but it continues to push southwards and head of that to push southern in england and wales, another drab night, low cloud with mist and fog, drizzle, like it's been the last few nights but for most, a cold night but frost free, to wife and 4 degrees but some patches of frost in scotland by the end of the night. —— 2-4 . at the scotland by the end of the night. —— 2—4 . at the cloud melts away in southern england, the drizzle clears away at the front pushes through and we get some time for a time but in the afternoon, in scotland and northern ireland, it turns more cloudy with outbreaks of rain moving in. is at the