here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.t's a day for family, with its own established pattern. for the royal family, that means a visit to church, led by the queen. and there, very much at home already, the royal family's soon—to—be newest member, meghan markle. alert to everything that was going on, and waiting for her cue in terms of royal protocol. a neat curtsey, as the queen left by car. and then walking across to speak to members of the crowd who had been hoping to meet her, before lunch, and then the queen's christmas broadcast. # god save the queen...#. the central message of this year's broadcast was one of solidarity with two british cities. this christmas, i think of london and manchester, whose powerful identities shone through over the past 12 months in the face of appalling attacks. the queen said it had been a privilege to witness the extraordinary bravery of young people injured in the manchester attack. very wicked. mmm. to target that sort of thing. yeah. yeah, it's... she spoke, too, about what she called

nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace.istmas celebrations in bethlehem have been quieter than usual after the violence which followed president trump's decision to move the us embassy tojerusalem. in rome, pope francis called for an end to the suffering of children, and for peace in the middle east. our religion editor, martin bashir, has more. bright sunshine lit up the basilica in st peter's square. but pope francis chose to focus his christmas day message on how conflict and oppression are casting a dark shadow over the world. he said that christmas makes us focus on the christ child, and thereby pay attention to the sufferings of children, particularly in the holy land. "we seejesus in the children of the middle east", he said, "who continue to suffer because of growing tensions between israelis and palestinians". "on this festive day, let us ask the lord for peace forjerusalem". the anglican archbishop in jerusalem, the most reverend suhail dawani, said that christ himself wept over the city 2000 years ago, and, with

nicholas witchell, bbc news. correspondent, daniela relph, has been at sandringham all day, and she sent us this update earlier. hundreds of people came here to see the royal family arrived and leave their christmas service at the church. many of the people here had come to get a first glimpse of meghan markle, prince harry's fiance. she will marry him next may. many people in the crowd were actually americans, some based at the local raf base. some people had been queueing since 5am this morning. there was a great deal of excitement for those who had managed to catch a glimpse of meghan markle. this is the third time i've been, and i'd never seen so many people. we were right at the way back, we didn't think we'd gotten. -- didn't think —— didn't think we'd get in. we got in about 11:30am, and we managed to see meghan and all of them. it was lovely. it was amazing to see the younger royals, like harry and william. we noticed these guys are really normal, normal people. yes, it's amazing. i've been here for five

from nottingham, here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.to a public stage. she's accustomed to meeting crowds and dealing with fans. little surprise, then, that meghan markle handled her first official public appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband—to—be was on hand, solicitous and supportive. there was a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other‘s backs. at times they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people. while harry did the same thing on his side of the street. moments later they were reunited, the queue for more back—rubbing. the couple heard about the work of the terrence higgins trust, the charity which has worked for years to help people suffering ffgm' fiffiifi'!’§§?= in tribute to his late mother. and at a local college, they heard about the effort to help young people keep out of trouble. serious issues to which harry, through a charitable trust, is devoting serious attention. but for all that, there was no doub

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.a and canada has intensified. canada is banning the venezuelan ambassador from returning to offer what. they say it is retaliation tricks the expulsion of its most senior diplomat from venezuela. canada and venezuela have been at odds for a few months. canada has been supporting the opposition which venezuela is protesting against, the lack of democracy and what they say are rights violations. what canada says, strong statement. "canadians will not stand by as the government robs these people of their democratic and human rights." also, two days ago, venezuela expelled the brazilian ambassador. venezuela is making a clear stand in giving a strong message to those who criticise the government of president nicolas maduro. we won't listen quietly, we will act. they are expelling activists in venezuela. this comes at months before the presidential elections are expected to take place, in the first half of next year. how far do you think this will go diplomatically? in trade and economic te

nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace.in: the deadly tropical storm that cut through southern philippines on saturday, where it killed 240 people in mudslides and flash floods, is beginning to hit southern vietnam. after one million people are being evacuated from low-lying , anywhere from da nang southwards is expected to have a 500 millimeters of rain. short time ago we were joined by nick miller from the weather center, who tells us that the storm is weakening. >> at one point it was a typhoon, and it strengthened moving through the southern philippines. but just before reaching southern vietnam, it was downgraded in terms of wind strength to a tropical storm. these are ranked in terms of wind, as we know. wind is not the only future we need to be worried about with typhoons and tropical storms. it is very much the rain, all that rain in the southern philippines the cost problems, the landslides that result from that, and the amount of water above normal tide level that will come in particularly to low-lying areas. that

nicholas witchell, bbc news.of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel held area of damascus. motorists are being warned that snow and ice are causing travel disruption in england and wales. laura plummer the briton jailed laura plummer the britonjailed in egypt for drug offences has been moved to a different egyptian prison. the company that ran grenfell tower is handing back control of its other properties to the local council, saying it can no longer give tenants the service they expect. the kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation has responsibility for 9000 properties, as andy moore reports. grenfell tower is owned by the local council, but it was run by one of the largest tenant management organisations in the country. this body manages thousands of properties in the area. it was this management organisation that made the now—controversial decision to refurbish grenfell tower in cladding suspected of fuelling the fire. both it and the local council are now under investigatio

i witchell make donald trump and the republican leadership in washington's job harder nine jersey passing legislation. on the in the coming months a soo where t they are attack on their tax plan. could be important you know if they're if they're of did you know delayedd att on tht jones is seated and hacking complicate that. arithmetic further and actually would open u up at least a slimmed a slim opportunity for democrats that actually have a chance of winning back a senate majority two thousand eighteen. the map is very bad for them and i probably won't happen however a jones win would trade opportuniniy because t they're toooo republican held seats that will be in danger. i amm twenty eighteenn verery i fr susure. and so democrats is howw old all thehe seats haf the two thousand eighteen for not easy and they were at those two plus in jones when it would be a fifty one seats and have a jury. jeff is harry thanks very much in days. well saying it with the u. s. reminder because the twenty seven year old bangladeshi who tried to blow himself up on the new york subway today has been charg

nicholas witchell has more. nicholas: as an actress, she has been used to a public stage.he's accustomed to meeting crowds and in dealing with fans. little surprise that meghan markle handled her first appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband-to-be was on hand. there was a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other's backs. at times they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people. while harry did the same thing on his side of the streets. moments later, they were reunited, the cue for more back rubbing. this clearly is a team effort. the new recruit seems a natural. she will do hundreds and hundreds of events like this in the years to come, but she will remember this one, her first official encounter with the british public. and the verdict on her performance? >> i think she is great. good addition to the royal family. an american! >> mixed kid. >> mixed in the royal family now. >> we are just so excited that they have come to nottingham for the first public

nicholas witchell, bbc news.codile, found wandering the footpaths on christmas day. authorities are unsure exactly where it came from, but are presuming it's a pet. alyse edwards reports. working off christmas dinner with an evening stroll through the streets of melbourne. but this freshwater crocodile's festive frolic did not last for long. 9:20pm, i had a call from the police saying there was a crocodile walking through the streets of heidelberg and if i could get there asap. getting some alone time can be difficult at this time of year. this escapee was cornered and he was caught. i attended and found five victoria police members with a freshwater crocodile. we presume it was a pet at some stage. it's a long way from any bodies of water. you can legally keep a crocodile as a pet in victoria and other parts of australia. i saw it on facebook, 50% off and i thought, cool. a northern territory crocodile farm sold about 100 crocodiles as christmas presents this year. but with no information about where this runawa

nicholas witchell, bbc news.struggled to preserve the continent's elephant, using a variety of techniques and methods, to prevent poaching. now, an organisation that manages national parks across nine african countries, is using military tactics, to try to deal with the poachers. one of their big success stories has been in chad, at the zakouma national park, where 90% of elephants were lost over four decades. when african parks took over there were fewer than 500 left. our correspondent alastair leithead travelled to the remote region where the elephant population is finally recovering. they were the herd heading for extinction. but the elephants of zakouma national park have made a dramatic recovery. translation: before, there used to be elephant carcasses everywhere . so what has been the difference, since african parks took over? translation: since african parks arrived here, we no longer see carcasses of elephants in the park. across the continent, a private, not—for—profit conservation group called african

nicholas witchell, bbc news.arack obama earlier in the programme. they discussed the dangers of social media and the spread of misinformation. they also took time to tackle some of the big questions. clips from the interview are proving popular. you clips from the interview are proving popular. you can clips from the interview are proving popular. you can watch clips from the interview are proving popular. you can watch them and read more at bbc .com slash news. a tower made from lego bricks has been built in israel's coastal city of tel aviv. the 36 metre construction in rabin square is designed to set a new world record — the previous record was set in 2015 when the italian subsidiary of lego built a 35 metre tower for the milan world expo. faith 0rr reports. brick by brick this huge lego tower is painstakingly assembled. it stands at 36 metres tall and has been constructed from over 500,000 plastic bricks donated by residents of tel aviv. idiots in memory of an eight—year—old lawyer who died of cancer in 201a.

that was nicholas witchell at buckingham palace. with auctioneers expecting it to fetch up to 450,000 pounds. the skeleton was discovered around ten years ago in the siberian permafrost. hugh schofield reports from paris. according to the auctioneers, it is the largest woolly mammoth skeleton in private hands. on this display at the auction house in lyon it stands 3.4 metres high, with magnificent curving tusks that are each more than three metres in length. it is also a rare example because 80% of the skeleton is the original bone, with only 20% resin used to complete assembly. translation: if you want to put it in a room, it must be big. look here in a building hall, in a big company hall, it doesn't seem disproportionate. indeed, you need space. there are not 50 people in lyon who could find room for it. but in the world there would be about a thousand who could. put in an apartment hall, a company hall, everyone would be pleased and it is funny. translation: this wine cellar near the pont du gard in one year after exhibiting the

nicholas witchell, bbc news.s on how the interview is going down in the us. we'll be crossing live to orlando, florida. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. an improvised explosive device has gone off in a supermarket in the russian city of st petersburg. the city governor's office says ten people are in hospital, one of whom is in a serious condition. they say the incident is being investigated as attempted the ukrainian authorities are transferring more than 260 people back to rebel held territory and in return 7a prisoners being detained by rebels are being freed. a court in bosnia has sentenced a croat woman — known to her victims as the "mistress of life and death" — to 14 years in prison for atrocities committed during the bosnian war in the 1990s. azra basic, a former member of the bosnian—croat forces, was found guilty of war crimes, including murder and the torture of ethnic serb civilians. an arctic cold snap is bringing sub—zero temperatures and heavy snow to large parts of n

nicholas witchell, bbc news.he chaos the weather is causing we have had confirmation from luton airport the snow that had fallen earlier and forced it to reduce the number of inbound flights has been sorted out. the airport remains open and it is operational. some of the flights have been cancelled, some have been delayed, because they had to de—ice some of the aircraft. they believe the worst of the weather is over and the worst of the weather is over and the main information to take from this is that luton airport remains open and is operational. the company that ran grenfell tower is handing back control of its other properties to the local council, saying it can no longer give tenants the service they expect. the kensington and chelsea tenant management organisation has responsibility for 9000 properties, as andy moore reports. grenfell tower is owned by the local council, but it was run by one of the largest tenant management organisations in the country. this body manages thousands of properties in the area

nicholas witchell, bbc news. sharanjit: stay with us on "bbc world news." the first time in seven years to lead britain's resurgence on the boxing day test. we will be live in melbourne. >> we saw this enormous tidal wave approaching the beach, and people started to run, and suddenly it was complete chaos. >> the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon said the operation had been a 90% successful, but it failed in its principal objective, to capture general noriega and take him to the united states to face charges. >> the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. the russian flag was hoisted over what is no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. >> day broke slowly over lockerbie over the cockpit of pan am's made of the seas nosedown in the soft earth. , you can see what happens when a plane eight stories high falls from 30,000 feet. >> christmas has returned to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in a town

nicholas witchell, bbc news. daniela relph is in sandringham for us now.mong the crowd. yeah, there were hundreds of people here this morning to see the royal family go to church on the sandringham estate at the mary magdalene church will stop some people started queueing to get a good position from 5am this morning. many people in the crowds today were american. much more than in previous yea rs, american. much more than in previous years, i think. american. much more than in previous years, ithink. they american. much more than in previous years, i think. they had come from local raf bases and come to see this american woman who will be marrying into the midst of the british royal family in may next year. lots of excitement on that front, wanting to see meghan markle today. it was also the first time we saw meghan markle as part of the wider royal family. she seems to handle it very well. her and prince harry chatted to people outside the church as they left, about the weather, christmas and family. she seemed incredibly at ease. it's a slight break in r

nicholas witchell, bbc news. around the uk, with snow and ice causing problems. the runway at stansted airport was closed twice, with some passengers spending hours on planes out on the tarmac. the first of a group of critically ill syrian children are allowed to leave a rebel held area of damascus. sport now, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's mark. manchester city are on the hunt for an unprecedented 18th successive premier league victory they're away at newcastle. and it's been all one—way traffic. victory for city would see them going 15 points clear at the top of the premier league. and raheem sterling has finally made the breakthrough for city after half an hour. no surprises with pep guardiola's side enjoying almost all the possession. 1-0 1—0 after 33 minutes. hearts are taking on hibs in the edinburgh derby in the scottish premiership this evening. hibs could move level with rangers in third with a win at tynecastle. and the visitors should've had the lead early on. there's no goa

nicholas witchell, bbc news. more on that and on all the news at any time on the bbc website.e embley if you are out and about early this thursday morning, bear in mind that conditions could be slippery out there. frost and ice to contend with where we had wintry weather during wednesday and that clears away. then the sky cleared overhead and thursday starts off with the risk of ice. there are still wintry showers exacerbating the risk across some northern and western areas. freezing fog developing across parts of northern ireland as well perhaps, and if that fog develops it could linger through the day. for most of us, thursday is a cracking day. plenty of sparkling winter sunshine. a closer look at three o'clock in the afternoon. despite the sunshine through the midlands, central southern england, temperatures will only reach three degrees, possibly hitting five in london. kent into east anglia, a much drier day with a lot of sunshine. fine for the bulk of northern england. a few showers drifting across north—west england, fading as the day goes on. sunshine across much of s

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.zuela and canada has intensified. canada is banning venezuela's ambassador from returning to ottawa and expelling its charge d'affaires. canada's foreign minister has said it's retaliation for the expulsion of its most senior diplomat from caracas over the weekend. leonardo rocha, americas editor for bbc world service, gave us more analysis earlier. canada and venezuela have been at odds for a few months. canada has been supporting, to some extent, the opposition, which venezuela is protesting against, the lack of democracy and what they say are rights violations. what canada says, a strong statement. they said, "canadians will not stand by as the government robs these people of their fundamental democratic and human rights." also, two days ago, venezuela expelled the brazilian ambassador. what i believe is happening is venezuela is making a clear stand in giving a strong message to those who criticise the government of president nicolas maduro. we won't listen quietly, we will act. in

nicholas witchell, bbc news, nottingham. siren warning of nuclear attack. siren wails the resumption of a monthly state—wide test was prompted by north korea's firing of a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile earlier this week. don't forget you can get in touch with me and some of the team on twitter. i'm at bbcregedahmad. after a fairly wintry end to november, december has started on a little bit more of a milder note, and through the course of the weekend it will gradually turn that bit milder. we'll still see some sunshine on offer, as well as a little bit of light rain. a few showers, but not all of us seeing them through the course of the weekend. as we start off saturday morning, this is how things look. one or two showers lingering around the east coast of england and a few coming down the irish sea, affecting wales and south—west of england. a little light rain also pushing across scotland that will be persistent over the north over higher ground. let's look at saturday afternoon. quite cloudy for the south—we

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.tle too much — perhaps the most you want to do to exert yourself is to try and reach for the remote control. so spare a thought for the competitors of the wingsuit flying world cup. they spent most of their christmas jumping out of planes or balloons. the event took place injinngu in yunnan province, as the bbc‘s tim allman explains. you know what they say. what goes up must come down. a principal they understand all too well that the wingsuit flying world cup. —— principle. teams from around the globe competing in this extreme and hair raising sport. translation: globe competing in this extreme and hair raising sport. translationzlj travelled more than 400 kilometres to see this. we arrived here early in the morning, just to watch the wing suit flying show. it is spectacular! you can say that again. a couple of skydivers perform a 360 degrees rotating nosedive. while others piggybacked from their teammates. not everybody was happy with how things turned out. translation: i think our p

nicholas witchell, bbc news, nottingham. that's it.n news. "a catalogue of disasters" — the damning verdict of a report welcome to sportsday. the headlines... group g for a grateful. the world cup draw appeals to be kind to england, who will play belgium, tunisia and panama in the tournament in russia. could the day and night match in adelaide provide england's best chance of winning the ashes england's best chance of winning the as hes test? england's best chance of winning the ashes test? cloudy skies and chilly temperatures, almost like being at home. australia and england part to any rugby league world cup final. england's first and 22 years against the hosts and defending champions. hello again. the consensus seems to be the world cup draw for russia 2018 has been pretty kind to england. more best case than worst—case. it begins onjune 18 fortune is here, before matches against panama and belgium, the seeded team in the group. 0ur correspondent gave me his assessment of group g from the draw in moscow. it has been perceived that t

nicholas witchell, bbc news, nottingham.f pope francis who is in the final day of his seven—day trip to myanmar and bangladesh. he is in bangladesh right now, and he is visiting the church of santo rosario and meeting some priests as well, before heading to dakar where he will meet other priests. there is much more of this on our website, i am also on twitter. hello. after a fairly wintry end to november, december has started on a little bit more of a milder note, and through the course of the weekend it will gradually turn that bit milder. we'll still see some sunshine on offer, as well as a little bit of light rain. a few showers, but not all of us seeing them through the course of the weekend. as we start off saturday morning, this is how things look. one or two showers lingering around the east coast of england and a few coming down the irish sea, affecting wales and south—west of england. a little light rain also pushing across scotland that will be persistent over the north over higher ground. let's look at saturday af

nicholas witchell, bbc news.at critically ill children have been evacuated from a rebel held areas in damascus. 0ur correspondent is in beirut. we can speak to her now. all of the children out of this war that list? no, not all of them. -- that were on this list. three children left yesterday and one man who was also in need of medical aid. the list included 29 names only. but that is just a small drop of the tens of children who are in need of medical evacuation. we know that open 600 people are in need of medical evacuation and at least 200 of them are children. the government has only approved 29 of them, four leaving yesterday. we are waiting for more to leave. the hope is that the list will increase. so far, the government has only approved a short number of people, most of them are children in dire need to leave. just how significant is this deal? how did it come about? this has been a pattern that the syrian government has used in many cities and towns. we've seen it in homs... cities and towns. we've seen

nicholas witchell, bbc news, nottingham.age of next summer's football world cup. the first match will be on the 18th ofjune. the draw was made in moscow. dan roan reports. it was the day russia invited the great and the good of football inside its seat of power. the kremlin playing host to some of the legends who have graced the sport's showpiece event. a first world cup in russia has become a matter of personal pride and political importance to vladimir putin. the president himself taking the opportunity to kick off proceedings. applause a colourful celebration of russian culture providing the now traditional pre—draw entertainment. as england's manager gareth southgate prepared to learn his team's fate, there were plenty of familiar faces from which to gain confidence. world cup winner gordon banks leading out a stellar cast list of draw assistants, before gary lineker, golden boot winner in 1986 and more recently an outspoken critic of tournament organisers fifa, was introduced in his role as master of ceremonies. i think

nicholas witchell, bbc news.d in egypt after prohibited painkillers were discovered in her luggage says she has been transferred to another prison. our correspondent matthew thompson gave us more details about the transfer. what we do know from speaking to the family and her lawyer is that she has been moved to an infamous qena prison in upper egypt. it is one hour's drive from luxor. it is notorious both for its inmates, human rights groups say it contains a number of so—called islamic state fighters but most significantly for the squalor in which it is supposed to exist. the lawyer has said they're trying to get laura moved to another more sanitary prison closer to cairo but it is not certain if that will be possible. on christmas day, when the trial was meant to happen, it had to be stopped in large part because of laura just not being in a fit state to continue. what is meant to have happened is that she has been following the proceedings of the trial through translation and she was in such a state that she m

nicholas witchell, bbc news.now from among the crowds at the sandringham estate in norfolk, is our royal correspondent, daniela relph. this year in particular, i suppose, all eyes on meghan markle. yes, it really did feel like that's today. there were hundreds of people here, many of whom started queueing at 5am to make sure they've got good position outside saint mary magdalene church to watch the royal family attended a christmas service earlier on today. many of them were here to see meghan markle. there is a big contingent of americans in the crowd today, many of them are based at local raf bases, who'd come to see the other american will become a member of the royal family next may when she marries prince harry. we chatted to people in the crowd here, there was a great deal of excitement from those who caught a glimpse of meghan markle and the other members of the family this morning. this is the third year i've been and never seen so the third year i've been and never seen so many the third year i've been a

nicholas witchell, bbc news.spend more than usual over the festive season. but one of the economic stories of 2017 has been that the cost of living has risen faster than people's pay. today the think tank, the resolution foundation says the squeeze on people's pay is going to continue well into 2018. joining me now is laura gardiner, a senior policy analyst at the resolution foundation. shejoins me from south london. thank you forjoining us. the facts, what is going to happen next year? firstly, next year looks a bit better than this year when we've had a return to the pay squeeze far too soon after the long five or six year pay squeeze the fun of the financial crisis. but it is not that much better. pay will continue to fall at the start of next year. by december next year, it should be rising again. but that evens out at about zero wage growth over the year as a whole. that is quite a pessimistic outlook after so many years of stag na nt outlook after so many years of stagnant or even falling as pay. in terms o

from nottingham, here‘s our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. appearance in her new role with considerable confidence. husband—to—be was on hand, solicitous and supportive, with a lot of eye contact between them and supportive arms going around each other‘s backs. at times they met the crowds together, but then meghan branched off on her own, stopping and taking time with people. while harry did the same thing on his side of the street. moments later they were reunited, the queue for more back—rubbing. this clearly is a team effort and the new recruit seems a natural. she will do hundreds and hundreds of events like this in the years to come, but she will remember this one, her first official encounter with the british public. and the verdict on her performance? i think she‘s great. a good addition to the royal family. definitely. yeah. an american. go, mixed kids! yeah, mixed kids in the royal family now. it was just fabulous and we're just so excited that they've come to nottingham for their first public appearance and we're very excited about

i thought nicholas witchell was quite a good reporter until he became a royal reporter until he becameand seems to have gone the way ofjennie bond. reporter and seems to have gone the way ofjennie bond. to be fair, do you have an issue that you personally don't care for a royal coverage? not really, no. it was perhaps worth a mention and would be in at the bottom of page eight of the guardian or something like that, but apart from that, no. richard, it isa but apart from that, no. richard, it is a happy occasion, but a lot of viewers do detect what they see as a fawning tome, don't they? we were reporting it as a happy story and most people saw it as a positive story. you often reflect that on the tone of your coverage but we also reflected the issues the issues have —— the royal family have had in the past about marriage, and the fact she is a divorcee, but ostensibly it was a happy story, and the audience clearly enjoyed it. richard we had one viewer on webcam there dealing uncomfortable about the amount of discussion of meghan marco's mixed—race background, into an introductory line

george's chapel windsor castle, will take place on saturday 19 may. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchellal family. it isa it is a saturday, which is unusual but not unprecedented. back in 1999 there was a wedding. part of the calculation has been that because there is no bank holiday for this wedding, having a saturday will give those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor and be pa rt opportunity to go to windsor and be part of the celebration. the other interesting thing about saturday the 19th of may is that it is the date of the fa cup final. william of course is president of the fa, he would normally be at wembley, if he so chooses i think he could still make it, best man or supporter to his brother at windsor in the morning, a late kick—off at wembley in the afternoon. but somehow you know, i think there will all be too busy celebrating. that's a summary of the news, newsday is coming up at midnight — now on bbc news it's time for newsnight with kirsty wark. we're well on the road to delivering a brexit that'll make britain prosperous, strong and secure. we'll get it don

i thought nicholas witchell was quite a good reporter until he became the royal reporter, and then seems gone the way ofjennie bond. to be fair, bob, do you have an issue that you personally don't care for royal coverage? not really, no. to be frank. it was perhaps worth a mention. it would perhaps have been at the bottom of page eight in the guardian or something like that. but, apart from that, no. you know, richard, it is a happy occasion. we all know, it's not time for a tough grilling. but, a lot of viewers do detect what they see as a fawning tone, don't they? let's face it. we were reporting what ostensibly was a happy story on monday. most people saw it as good news and most people saw it as a positive story. so, i think, you've got to reflect that in the tone of your coverage but we also reflected the issues that the royal family have had in the past with marriage. we reflected the fact that she is a divorcee. so i think there were issues to cover but ostensibly monday was a happy story that, clearly, when you look at the figures our audiences really enjoyed. richard, we also kn

nicholas witchell, bbc news.en from a rebel—held suburb near the syrian capital, damascus. four critically—ill patients were reportedly taken out of ghouta overnight. another 25 are expected to be evacuated in the coming days, although hundreds more are in urgent need of treatment. some 400,000 residents have been under siege by government forces there since 2013. matthew thompson reports. a wave, a smile. and for eight—year—old imjy a chance, at least, at life. 29 seriously ill civilians are due to be evacuated from this besieged suburb of damascus. many others were not so fortunate. eastern ghouta is one of the last strongholds of rebels fighting the forces of president bashar al—assad. it has been under siege by government troops since 2013 and as peace talks in geneva have faltered, the humanitarian crisis has escalated. food and fuel shortages have led to rampant inflation, starvation, and with medical supplies severely limited, doctors are powerless to help those in need. to escape the constant bombardment,

nicholas witchell has been giving us details.unusual but not unprecedented for a royal wedding to take place on a saturday. i would royal wedding to take place on a saturday. iwould imagine royal wedding to take place on a saturday. i would imagine that part of the thinking is that because there is no bank holiday in the case of harry and meghan, by having the wedding on a saturday, it gives those who are so minded an opportunity to go to windsor, because no doubt there will be a carriage procession through the centre of windsor town and maybe the park, so people will have an opportunity to cheer and wave. but the wedding is set for the 19th of may, 2018. some people were pinning their hopes on a bank holiday, street parties and everything. downing street has not been persuaded and i do not think there was ever much chance, because these things are ruled by precedent. you get a bank holiday if it is somebody in direct line of succession, but not necessarily for someone who is, as he will be by then, sixth in line to the throne, b

this report from our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell.ining the today programme for the day had been a big learning curve, harry said. but he had enjoyed being the interviewer, rather than the interviewed. it was quite fun, especially interviewing president 0bama. his principal scoop had been to persuade barack 0bama to give his first interview since standing down as us president. the word trump was never mentioned, but may have been in mr 0bama's mind when he warned about the irresponsible use of social media. how do we harness this technology in a way that allows a multiplicity of voices, allows a diversity of views, prince harry, first of all, you are very welcome to our studio. but does not lead to a balkanisation of our society but rather continues to promote ways of finding common ground? harry had also interviewed his father. the main focus had been on climate change — the issue prince charles has championed for decades and for which he was sometimes derided. maybe now, some years later, they're beginning to realise that what i was