this is well corresponded nicholas witchell on monday's news at ten.here is no absolute commitment so far that prince andrew will agree to be questioned by the us authorities. the palace line at the moment is that if a request is received, it will be considered. two nights ago, prince andrew did his best to answer the central allegations with categorical denials of impropriety. but the continued attention paid by bbc news to the subject again irritated some members of the audience. tanya young was unimpressed with the contrast between but coverage and the focus given to one of the particular story. she recorded this video for us. story. she recorded this video for us. i'm angry that the bbc was invited us —— has bombarded us with the prince andrew interview day and night over the weekend. seemingly at the expense of other important news. i understand that newsnight and bbc have seen this as a newsworthy coup. however, other important things are happening at the same time. my daughter is at university. and i watched with horror the fire at the bolton un

nicholas witchell, bbc news.ginia roberts' legal team has responded, saying that they want prince andrew to speak under oath, rather than giving statements to the media. joining me now is our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. just picking up on that point first, until now the public expressions in behalf of prince andrew a statement saying there was no truth in the allegations and their disgraceful allegations and their disgraceful allegations and their disgraceful allegations and that is it. presumably this does rather change a situation. i think the hope that andrew clearly will have is that once we've heard the interview the best pa rt once we've heard the interview the best part of an hour tonight talking to emily make less, the public will ta ke to emily make less, the public will take a more positive response to the clips we have seen so far which are not terribly helpful to him. he has not terribly helpful to him. he has no recollection of this lady according to him. he talks about it being the honour

nicholas witchell, bbc news. joining me now is our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.arriving at a point the process of arriving at a point where the duke says yes to this interview, what kind of discussions might have been going on do you think? well, newsnight and emily maitlis said they were in discussions for some six months. prince andrew is always keen to talk about his work but clearly, no interview could have been done without addressing all of this. as i understand it, there were discussions over a number of months with, interestingly, andrew's office rather than with the central royal communications, the buckingham palace press office. they have been left rather out of all this. now, whether their advice would have been to go ahead with this interview, i'm not so sure. but i think was determined it was andrew's own determination to do... an interview. it's a gamble for him and his reputation. it has placed it across every front page in this country and it's getting a lot of international attention, as well. it has given legs to the allegations against him. he

nicholas witchell. leaving home in windsor this morning, seemingly as normal, prince andrew — bound for buckingham palace and further meetings to reshape the next phase of his life. arriving at the palace to offer her advice and support, his ex—wife, the duchess of york. andrew won't now perform public engagements for the foreseeable future, but it is suggested he may still appear at trooping the colour, the annual celebration of his mother's birthday, though whether he will do so in the uniform of colonel of the grenadier guards is less clear. similarly, it's suggested he'll still lay a wreath at the cenotaph on remembrance sunday. he is, after all, a former serving officer in the royal navy. what's much clearer now is that it's the core members of the royal family, those who appeared together on the palace balcony for the diamond jubilee, who represent the future. this episode has seen prince charles exercise his authority alongside the queen. they were the ones who decided that

and as nicholas witchell said, andrew wants to get on with work, he wants to be a busy royal.go away. it is high—stakes. it is a gamble. we haven't seen the whole tape. the accents that we have seen, in my reading, i mean, i don't necessarily know if the words he's chosen, which of course are very carefully chosen, are actually perhaps the right ones to appease the questions and public opinion. i think the idea that staying with epstein was the honourable thing to do, i think some would think that the word honourable, the definition, would be quite interesting. and, of course, there is no explicit denial, actually, of a sexual contact with virginia roberts. there is merely "i have no recollection of her" and again, as nicholas witchell said, there is that photograph. 0ne wonders really whether this interview is going to close things down. we haven't seen the whole thing and that remains to be seen. when you look back at other relatively recent examples and members of the royal family deciding that the best thing to do is to front up for want of a general expression and speak t

nicholas witchell, thanks forjoining us. underway into the cause of a fire at a block of student flats in bolton. witnesses say the blaze spread quickly to the upper floors, prompting concerns about the cladding on the block. two people were injured. from bolton, 0livia richwald reports. these videos posted on social media show an intense fire which spread rapidly, sending chunks of burning cladding and sparks to the ground. at first, some of the students ignored the alarms. there was this girl who came running and she banged on the doors of the people on my floor, and she just started screaming, saying there was a fire, get out of here right now. when we were running down the stairs, it was getting higher and higher and catching really quickly. the cladding on this building is not the same as that which has been blamed for exacerbating the fire at grenfell tower in 2017, which killed 72 people, and the students living here in the cube have been reassured it was safe, but the videos posted on social media have raised alarm b

nicholas witchell, bbc news.otests widen across iran overfuel price rises and rationing, iran's interior minister has issued a warning to those demonstrating. he says that security forces will act to restore calm if protesters damage public properties. the demonstrations have been going on right across the country, including in the capital, tehran. two people have been killed in clashes with police in other cities. chinese communist party documents leaked to the new york times have revealed new details about the mass detention of uighur muslims in xinjiang. china officially describes detention facilities where uighurs are being held asjob training centres. but the internal documents illustrate the calculated and coercive nature of the ongoing campaign targeting muslims in western china. more on all our stories on our website. please just log on to bbc.com/news. an investigation is under way into the cause of a fire at a block of student flats in bolton. witnesses say the blaze spread quickly to the upper floors,

nicholas witchell, bbc news.an see the full interview in a bbc newsnight special on bbc two, tonight at nine o'clock. fire fighters have been tackling a huge blaze at an accommodation block for university students in bolton. crowds of students were evacuated from the cube when the fire broke out at about 8.30 last night. it took 200 fire fighters nine hours to put the fire out — which had spread to every floor. two people were treated by paramedics. the fire service spoke at the scene this morning. we have identified and we do know everyone that resided in the building, and we are still working through trying to contact everyone that lived in the premises. at the minute we cannot confirm that everyone is accounted for. one thing that i would like to confirm and allay any fears was this cladding on this building was not the same cladding that was on grenfell. 0livia richwald is in bolton for us now. a large part of the centre bolton remains closed this afternoon, you cannot see the cue from here but it is adjacent

nicholas witchell, bbc news.pr agent mark borkowski and asked him if prince andrew had been his client, whether he would have advised him to do this interview. i would have said no, don't do it. to me it's a gamble and you don't gamble in this day and age with reputation. particularly when the whole social media universe can judge you. i listened to a couple of extracts from the package and i suspected... i agree with nicholas witchell, you can'tjudge an interview until you've seen it, but there are a couple of tones in his voice where he felt the questions were quite wearisome. and i think he finds the whole situation wearisome. and clearly this is a man who wants to do a lot of good for the country, has a lot of charitable interests. i suspect he is looking at his diary for next year and it probably isn't as full as it has been in previous years. and he wants to rid himself. so it's a desperate act. and when you are categorically saying you do not remember this woman, when there is lots of photographic evidence

the prince denies allegations about s own conduct.ro oul correspondent nicholas witchell reports. >> our where i this-- your royal highness -- nicholas: the interview has been hurt and met with incredulity and one suspects with despair in the royal household. the reaction has been negative. thconsensus, in pr terms, the interview wasad extremely ilsed. andrew was categoricalsebout his denial impropriety with then-17 numeral virginia -- then-17-year-old virginia roberts. she claims she was introduced to him at a nightclub in central london she says they danced together there. andrew is emphatic that he was at home. he says he had taken his daughter to th pizza restaurant invoking and surrey in the late afternoon. how had he managed to reer a sparific date so many ago? prince andrew: because going to pizza express in woking is an unusual thing for me to do. aoery unusual thing for me do. i've only been to wokingup a of times, and i remember it weirdly distinctly. asas soon omebody reminded me of it, i went, oh yes, i remember that. nicholas: in the united states, where jeffrey epsteined

here is royal corresndent nicholas witchell. nicholas: driving himself into buckingham palace yesterday, the only citing of prince andrew since the "newsnight" oaterview was ast. hostility towards him has shown nsno sf lessening. "poison prince" and "pariah prince" were just two of the headlines this morning. at the same time, sponsors of his various initiatives a c charities hatinued to distance themselves from him. all this in response ta notably misjudged interview in which he failed to find either the right tone or the right words to respond to his association with jeffrey epstn. b tonight he akingham palace accepted that his decision had -- position had become unsustainable. in a statement, prince andrew said, "i asked her majesty if i may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, and she has given her permison. i continue to unequivocally regret my ill-judged association with jeffrey epstein.iz i deeply sympawith everyone who has been affected. i can only hope that in timel they w able to rebuild their lives.

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.laura: for more on legal proceedings prince andrew might be asked to give evidence in, ic spoke withegal analyst jonathan turley. how much legal jeopardy, if any, is prince andrew facing after the interview? jonathan: it could be serious if he finds himself back in the united states. there are a nu going on with a large number of lawyershat would love to get him with a subpoena. once you get a subpoena in the united states, you are expected to appear. the question is whether they would have access to him. but he is obously a witness that could be called into these depositions. the problem for prince andrew is that once is in ese depositions,e is under oath. become a criminal if case could there is an allegation that he lied. there is also the added issue of the fbi. if the fbi does interview prince drew, that also is a potentially criminal matter. lying to the fbi itself is a crime. laura: if this was a deposition yand prince andrew had ber client, how would you think it had gone? jona

nicholas witchell, bbc news.r correspondent, simonjones, who was outside buckingham palace. he said that there had been no reaction from the palace since that interview was broadcast. you certainly get the impression that this is something the queen would very much like to keep out of. now, we understand the decision to do this interview was made by prince andrew himself and his advisers, it's unclear whether he consulted any other members of the royal family before going ahead with it. here at buckingham palace, it's certainly the talk of the day. throughout the day, we have seen people arriving, tourists taking their usual pictures outside the building. at 11 o'clock, lots of people gathered for the usual service of changing of the guard. but that really hasn't been the spectacle that everyone has been talking about today, they've been wanting to talk about that documentary, that interview, last night. i have been speaking to tourists from america, canada, germany, who all eagerly tuned in last night — the over

nicholas witchell, bbc news.ions, a spectacular 750,000 poppies fell over the white cliffs of dover. they were carried in a second world war dakota plane and dropped from an altitude of 500 feet, over the battle of britain memorial. five veterans, including former raf servicemen who served during the war, were on board the aircraft. the poppies were all purchased from royal british legion for nearly £11,000. spectacular, and a beautiful morning. well, our correspondent sarah campbell has more on the poppy appeal and the events marking remembrance day at the cenotaph. a very moving ceremony. the pavement absolutely packed with people that have been here for a couple of hours waiting to observe the two—minute silence. and now you can probably hear the band is behind me. because it is the march of the veterans. up to 10,000 veterans, who are marching past the cenotaph, organised by the royal british legion. from there, i have alex 0wen. this is a really important event for veterans to be involved in, isn't it? yeah,

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace. will bring you more on the story later.ouse claims testimony from a us diplomant in donald trump's impeachment hearing "completely exonerates" the president. the former vice president, joe biden, said it was clear the president didn't want to face him on the 2020 election. earlier, the diplomat gordon sondland told the enquiry mrtrump diplomat gordon sondland told the enquiry mr trump directed efforts to have joe enquiry mr trump directed efforts to havejoe biden investigated. republicans said he was exonerated. defying orders from both the white house and the state department not to testify, gordon sondland provided the most stunning evidence at this enquiry so fara the most stunning evidence at this enquiry so far a wealthy hotelier was made ambassador to the eu on the strength of $1 million donation to donald trump's inauguration committee, he told of the campaign led by the president, orchestrated by his personal lawyer and known to the most senior members of the trump administration. i was acting in good faith. as a pr

nicholas witchell, bbc news.ood warnings remain in place along the river don in yorkshire this lunchtime with a further a0 flood warnings across england and wales. fiona trott is outside fishlake in south yorkshire, which has been completely engulfed by the river don. fiona. what is the latest there? that's right, people here in fishlake are marooned. we got here by tractor this morning and that's all thanks to volunteer farmers from this village and surrounding villages who have come here to help, helping people get around and dropping off supplies. we managed to get through to the village pub which is on a raised level, and the people running it are hoping to cook around a0 hot meals for people today. that is what's really striking, the volunteer effort. the only reason they can cook those meals is they have gas and people have been donating food from all around, and it's been brought in by these volunteer farmers by tractor. it's been brought in by these volunteerfarmers by tractor. we it's been brought in by

nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace.rthern italy and southern austria cut off towns and villages, leaving them accessible only by helicopter. 0ne austrian village has been cut off from the outside world since thursday. this report from rich preston. in the austrian alps, the picture—perfect area in east tyrol. but for days now, this has been the only way in and out. avalanches have left this town of over 1,000 people cut off. two people had to be evacuated with medical emergencies. on sunday, 70 people had to be evacuated after an avalanche hit another nearby village. translation: we had to evacuate people in the village via helicopter. we could only reach there via helicopter. they were flown here to the fire station and lodged at friends or in hotels. translation: the situation is so sensitive. we have to get food here, this will be a big problem. at the moment, we still have electricity, but tomorrow, fresh snow is expected and it will be dark again. we will have a problem. there have been similar problems in south ty

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the story.alace yesterday, the only sighting of prince andrew since the newsnight interview was broadcast. hostility towards him has shown no sign of lessening. "poison prince" and "pariah prince" were just two of the newspaper headlines this morning. at the same time, sponsors of his various initiatives and charities have continued to distance themselves from him. all this in response to a notably misjudged interview in which he failed to find either the right tone or the right words to respond to his association with jeffrey epstein. tonight, he and buckingham palace accepted that his position had become unsustainable. in a statement, prince andrew said: "i have asked her majesty if i may step back from public duties he went on: and finally and significantly: the tone was notably contrite, something of a contrast to saturday night's broadcast. any sense now of guilt, regret or shame about any of your behaviour in your friendship with epstein? as far as mr epstein is concerned, it was the wrong

nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace.hat washington no longer considers israeli settlements built in the occupied west bank to be illegal. the move breaks with 4 decades of american foreign policy. the settlements, home to about 600,000 jews, on land israel occupied in the 1967 middle east war. they are widely considered illegal under international law, although israel has always disputed this. palestinians want this disputed territory as part of a future independent state. in effect, this undercuts all legal framework for the piecework, including palestinian self—determination? including palestinian self-determination? it would appear too. absolutely. secretary of state mike pompeo say previous policies we re mike pompeo say previous policies were inconsistent, in his words, and if the trumpet administration was reversing 40 yea rs if the trumpet administration was reversing 40 years of policy in this regard by declaring that these settle m e nt regard by declaring that these settlement were not in breach of internationa

that was nicholas witchell.ind out exactly what the duke of york had to say about his friendsship with the late jeffrey epstein by watching prince andrew and the epstein scandal, the newsnight interview, it's on this saturday and sunday on bbc world news. in the uk, you can catch it at 9pm on saturday on bbc two. the former us ambassador to ukraine who was fired by donald trump has told an impeachment hearing in washington that she felt threatened and intimidated by the president. jon sopel reports from washington. this was devastating and powerful testimony in what turned out to be a day of edge—of—your seat drama. the us ambassador to ukraine, marie yovanovitch, thrust into the centre of a poisonous brew. she fell foul of a diplomatic back channel set up by donald trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, and was fired without warning. the smears against her were all untrue, but in thejuly 25 call between donald trump and his ukrainian counterpart, astonishingly, the us president attacked her. "the former ambass

nicholas witchell, bbc news. news, still to come: from war orphan to star ballerina. a remarkable story of perseverance, dedication and survival. benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistan's general election, and she's asked pakistan's president to name her as prime minister. jackson's been released on bail of $3 million after turning himself in to police in santa barbara. it was the biggest demonstration so far of the fast—growing european anti—nuclear movement. the south african government has announced that its opening the country's remaining whites—only beaches to people of all races. this will lead to a black majority government in this country and the destruction of the white civilisation. part of the centuries—old windsor castle, one of the queen's residences, has been consumed by fire for much of the day. 150 firemen have been battling the blaze, which has caused millions of pounds worth of damage. this is bbc news, the latest headlines. the israeli prime minister has been indicted for bribery, fraud

nicholas witchell, bbc news. from hong kong say police have fired volleys of tear gas at protesters emerging from the city's polytecnic university. hours earlier, police tear gas forced hundreds of activists, some lobbing petrol bombs, to retreat behind make—shift fortifications at the university campus in what were described as some of the most dramatic scenes since protests began more than five months ago. an investigation is underway into the cause of a fire at a block of student flats in bolton. witnesses say the blaze spread quickly to the upper floors, prompting concerns about the cladding on the block. two people were injured. from bolton, 0livia richwald reports. these videos posted on social media show an intense fire which spread rapidly, sending chunks of burning cladding and sparks to the ground. at first, some of the students ignored the alarms. there was this girl who came running and she banged on the doors of the people on my floor, and she just started screaming, saying that "there's a fire, get

nicholas witchell, bbc news.n major‘s government in the 1990s, has died at the age of 79. brian mawhinney was an mp for more than 25 years, and served as a cabinet minister and conservative party chairman. he was also chairman of the football league. early results from the spanish general election suggest that the country is heading for another hung parliament. the vote was the fourth time at the polls for spaniards in four years, with the governing socialist party attempting to end parliamentary gridlock by winning a majority. 0ur correspondentjenny hill is in madrid following developments. there have been two significant developments today. the socialist prime minister took a political gamble and it did not pay off. secondly, they have far resisted the lure of far right parties that have taken root in other parts of europe but today it seems to have changed. it‘s four years since spain had a stable government. can this man deliver one? pedro sanchez knows the eyes of the world are on him. his socialist party fa

nicholas witchell, bbc news.yal correspondent michael cole what he thought of the interview. good for the bbc, big scoop. bad for buckingham palace, big mistake. i don't know who is giving prince andrew pr and legal advice but it is not very good, i have to tell you. this interview... kudos to emily. well done, you. this brings a tremendous number of problems to him because it raises more questions than it answers and even raises questions of taste, his phraseology, saying it is "unbecoming" of a member of the royal family to stay for an extended period of time in the new york town house of a convicted child abuser. well, it's unbecoming of any decent human being to do that and, of course, it was more than a mistake, it was a tragic error. and, of course, at the heart of this, prince andrew talks a lot about his own failings and own reactions but there is a very vulnerable, as she was in 2001, aged 17, from an ordinary home in america, there is a woman called virginia roberts at the heart of it and she seems to b

nicholas witchell, bbc news.opter is being brought in to drop materials near the river don, which remains under severe flood warnings, meaning there is a risk to life. five such warnings are in place tonight. 0ur correspondent fiona trott has spent the day in one of the worst affected areas of south yorkshire. a village that's been abandoned. most people here in fishlake have locked up and left. the safest way to get through is by tractor. parish councillor pam webb has decided to stay. she's touring the village with the emergency services. the environment agency put out a notice at 5pm on friday, basically, "stand down, there won't be homes flooded". this is what's happened. farmerjohn duckett has worked on these fields all his life. he says poor river management is to blame. there's no doubt about it. part of the problem is the river don, which drains this area, is not receiving any maintenance whatsoever. the environment agency says natural flood management has a role to play, but flood defences are important.

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports.oms at buckingham palace, a senior member of the british royal family, prince andrew, second son of the queen, is preparing to be interrogated about allegations of sleazy behaviour and gross misjudgment. your royal highness, we've come to buckingham palace in highly unusual circumstances... at issue, which of these two people is telling the truth? andrew or virginia roberts, 17 years old when this photograph was taken? groomed, she says, to provide sexual favours to powerful men. even the photo is contentious. andrew says he has no memory of it. tramp, a nightclub in central london. virginia roberts says she was there with andrew one night in march 2001. she says they later had sex. andrew says he was with his family. and he told the bbc‘s emily maitlis, there's a medical reason why ms roberts' allegation cannot be true. she was very specific about that night. she described dancing with you... no. and you profusely sweating, and that she went on to have... there's a slight problem with

nicholas witchell, bbc news. our top story this evening...ber bullets as protesters try to escape a stand—off at a university. and still to come — a tiny book written by a teenage charlotte bronte will return to her home after it was sold at auction. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes on bbc news... we hearfrom eddiejones on that rugby world cup final, what he would have done differently and his future with england. it's a deadly fungal tree disease called ash dieback that's swept across europe and could wipe out most of the ash trees in britain. now scientists say there's new hope after a team from the royal botanic gardens kew identified the genes that provide resistance to ash dieback. it means trees could be bred that are unaffected by the epidemic. the research is published in the journal nature ecology and evolution. our science correspondent rebecca morelle reports. the stunning colours of autumn revealing the richness of our forests, but they're under threat. in 2012, ash dieback arrived in the uk from europe, where it's al

nicholas witchell, bbc news.on is dominating the debate in the general election campaign today. the conservatives have been giving more details on measures they want to see to try and reduce the number of people coming here, whilejeremy corbyn has said there would continue to be plenty of movement of people in and out of britain under a labour government. susana mendonca has the latest. the arrival of people from across the european union has changed the face of high streets like this one in peterborough, and raised concerns among some people about the issue of immigration, which could be a vote winner or a vote loser in next month's election. labour's leader says he is promising a more welcome approach. no labour government led by me will bring in a hostile environment like theresa may did. will free movement end if we leave the eu? there will be a great deal of movement. how much movement isn't clear, and during talks to pin down labour‘s manifesto yesterday, the party decided against any explicit attempt to ex

nicholas witchell, bbc news. earlier i spoke to our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell.uke of york and his advisors clearly thought that doing an interview on the subject was a gamble worth taking. i think that it is clear that it was andrew's determination together with his private secretary to go ahead and do this. they have been in the driving seat, they are the people who felt this is a gamble that was worth taking. i am not sure the mainstream, buckingham palace communications experts have really been involved in this and i'm not sure they would have advice for him to go ahead with it. but there it is. he has decided he wants to get his story out there. it is a high—risk gamble. you will be hoping that he gains credit for subjecting himself to the best part of an hour and as emily has said, there were no restrictions on what she could ask and as we have seen already from the clips that have been issued, she asks some very tough questions and he hasn't flinched. he has whatever we think of what he said, he has sat there, take on it and come up with what he must consi

nicholas witchell there.by the tv star and author david walliams. now it's been turned into a musical, with the help of the royal shakespeare company and the singer robbie williams. will gompertz has more. # though it feels so right to me, how do i know that it isn't wrong? you gave us two weeks! no—one else can see. two weeks to write 24 songs! # feel like i belong. elton john wrote the songs for billy elliot in one week. yeah, but i can go... mimics gibberish. but, you know, i can't — i don't know how to do that! words are very different. i bet eltonjohn did, but i bet you... lee hall, i think, wrote the lyrics. well, i bet you lee hall took about two months to think of the words. 0k, all right. # you have to admit that's a perfect fit. # i've never dressed up like a girl. # you wouldn't ever know it. it's written before you had a child. it's written before instagram and social media has become a big thing. if you were writing it today, would you write it differently? um, i hope not, because i think the the

nicholas witchell, bbc news.ests widen across iran over fuel price rises and rationing, iran's interior minister has issued a warning to those demonstrating. he says security forces will act to restore calm if protesters "damage public properties." the demonstrations have been going on right across the country, including in the capital tehran. two people have been killed in clashes with police in other cities. rich preston reports. demonstrations continued into a second day after friday's unexpected announcement. prices rose by at least 50%. in tehran, demonstrators blocked roads, even calling on the police tojoin them. blocked roads, even calling on the police to join them. teargas was used to break up the crowds. violent clashes were reported across the country. iran's interior minister has warned security forces will restore calm if a tax on property continue. fuel is heavily subsidised in iran, but american sanctions over its nuclear programme have hit the country's economy hard. president mahoney says the mo

nicholas witchell, bbc news, buckingham palace.ave been making their case to business leaders at the annual gathering of the confederation of british industry. boris johnson announced the conservatives would postpone a planned cut in corporation tax next year and spend the money on priorities such as the nhs. jeremy corbyn insisted that labour was not anti—business and promised more investment than business had ever dreamt of. jo swinson told delegates that the lib dems were the "natural party of business" because they wanted to cancel brexit. our business editor simon jack reports from the conference. it's a brave move to use a business conference to announce you're abandoning a planned £6 billion tax cut for business. i hope you won't mind if i also announced today that we are postponing further cuts in corporation tax. and before you storm the stage, this saves us £6 billion that we can put into the priorities of the british people. the fact it hardly raised an eyebrow means you know people's minds on something else. avoiding no

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell has the story.self into buckingham palace yesterday, the only sighting of prince andrew since the newsnight interview was broadcast. hostility towards him has shown no sign of listening. "poison prince" and "pariah prints" listening. "poison prince" and " pariah prints" were just listening. "poison prince" and "pariah prints" were just too much of the newspaper headlines this morning. at the same time, sponsors of his various initiatives and charities have continued to distance themselves from him. all this in response to a notably misjudged interview in which he failed to find either the right tone all the right words to respond to his association with jeffrey epstein. tonight, words to respond to his association withjeffrey epstein. tonight, he and buckingham palace accepted that his position had become unsustainable. in a statement, prince andrew said, "i have asked her majesty if i may step back from public duties for the foreseeable future and she has given her permission". he went on, "i conti

nicholas witchell, bbc news.s considering shop closures and rent cuts as part of a survival plan to save around 2,500 jobs. it comes after reports that the retailer wants to close 66 of its 332 shops. a clintons spokeswoman told the bbc that "discussions are continuing" with landlords "but no decisions have been made". turkey says eight civilians have been killed in a bomb attack in northeast syria. the explosion happened near the town of tal abyad, an area controlled by turkish troops and their syrian rebel allies. images from the scene show a column of black smoke rising into the air. rescue workers say a bomb in a vehicle exploded outside a bakery. turkey has blamed the syrian kurdish ypg militia for the blast. the ypg hasn't yet responded to the allegation. turkey regards the kurdish fighters as terrorists, and wants them pushed away from the frontier. voters in spain have returned to the polls for the country's second general election injust over six months. the socialists, led by the acting prime minister p

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports.yal highness, we've come to buckingham palace... the interview has been heard, andrew's answers have been noted — with incredulity in some quarters and, one suspects, with something close to despair in the royal household. the reaction to his words in most cases has been negative. the consensus, in pr terms, the interview was extremely ill—advised. andrew was categoric about his denial of sexual impropriety with the then 17—year—old virginia roberts. she's claimed that on the night of their alleged first encounter, in march 2001, she was introduced to him at tramp, the nightclub in central london. she says they danced together there, but andrew is emphatic that he was at home. he says he'd taken his daughter beatrice to this pizza restaurant in woking, in surrey, in the late afternoon. but how had he managed to remember a specific day so many years ago? because going to pizza express in woking is an unusual thing for me to do. a very unusual thing for me to do. i've never been — i've o

our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell reports. he is continuing with royal duties.nday, he was at the cenotaph, laying a wreath with his nephews. and yet, for month after month, he's been the focus of troubling questions. prince andrew, the queen's second son, one moment seen waving from the doorway of the new york home of a convicted child sex offender, jeffrey epstein, and photographed strolling through central park with him. buckingham palace has consistently denied any impropriety by prince andrew. now, he's decided to speak for himself to bbc newsnight‘s emily maitlis. but you were staying at the house of a convicted sex offender. yes. it was a convenient place to stay. i mean, i've gone through this in my mind so many times. at the end of the day, with the benefit of all the hindsight that one could have, it was definitely the wrong thing to do but at the time i felt it was the honourable and right thing to do. and i admit fully that myjudgement was probably coloured by my tendency to be too honourable but that's just the way it is. and then there's andrew's a

and nicholas witchell is here with me.he has decided to do this interview now. many people are asking why he has decided to do this interview nowi think that is a very good question andi think that is a very good question and i think it is all really rather baffling. i mean, it is an considerable gamble for him. he is not a member of the royal family who has a high level of public sympathy of support. he is widely seen to be arrogant and difficult. but clearly he wants to get his version of events out there. he must recognise that he has been seriously damaged by all of this relentless headlines, asi by all of this relentless headlines, as i was saying there, for many months. so he wants to get his story and try to restore his reputation. i think some of his answers are a little curious. i mean, clearly we need to be very careful what we say and we need to underpin everything with the fact that buckingham palace has repeatedly and emphatically night any impropriety, but when challenged on the allegations from virginia robe

nicholas witchell, bbc news.is for adults in the uk. labour say if they win the election they'd introduce free personal care for older people in england. the conservatives are promising to put an extra £1 billion a year towards social care for the next five years. 0ur social affairs correspondent alison holt is with me now. costly plans. will they be enough?” think there is broad agreement between the parties so this is the starting point. there is broad agreement that something needs to be done because the care system for older people and disabled people is at breaking point, and when you look at breaking point, and when you look at the statistics that is not surprising. we have growing demand from an ageing population and more working age adults with disabilities, and after years of cuts to council budgets, experts say it would cost an extra £8 billion a year to ta ke it would cost an extra £8 billion a year to take levels of care back to where they were in 2010. the tory plans, as they stand at the moment, are

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.yal highness, we've come to buckingham palace... the interview has been heard, andrew's answers have been noted, with incredulity in some quarters and, one suspects, with something close to despair within the royal household. the reaction to his words in most cases has been negative. the consensus, in pr terms, the interview was extremely ill—advised. andrew's denial of impropriety with the then 17—year—old virginia roberts is based in part on his recollection that, on the night in question in march 2001, he was at this pizza restaurant in woking in surrey. how had he managed to remember a specific night so many years ago? because going to pizza express in woking is an unusual thing for me to do. a very unusual thing for me to do. i've never been... i've only been through woking a couple of times, and i remember it weirdly distinctly. as soon as somebody reminded me of it, iwent, oh, yes, i rememberthat. in the united states, home to most of the young women who say they were trafficked

nicholas witchell, bbc news.ull interview in a bbc newsnight special on bbc two and here on the news channel tonight at 9.00, and also on the iplayer. joining me now is our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. the full interview being aired at 9.00, a lot of questions, what can you tell us about how this interview was secured, first of all? it is evident that newsnight has been in discussion with andrew's private office for some months. in a limitless set of six months of this has been in the making. —— emily maitlis. initially, andrew's of us would have been keen for him to talk about his work, but it was quite clear that no interview could go ahead without touching on these issues which have been so much in the news in recent months. it is clear that it was andrew's determination, together with his private secretary, to go ahead and do this. i think they have been in the driving seat, they are the people who have felt this is a gamble that was worth taking. i am not so sure that the mainstream, if you like,

nicholas witchell, bbc news. today. i'm ben croucher and these are our top stories: nine points. that's the difference between liverpool and manchester city after the reds won 3—1 in the premier league. 16 years — that's how long france have had to wait to win the fed cup. that wait is now over. from fed cup to fed up — roger federer loses his opening match at the atp finals in london. welcome along. we'll start in the premier league, where it might only be november, but already manchester city boss pep guardiola admits he's not sure if they can catch liverpool. it's after the european champions beat city 3—1 at anfield to extend their lead at the top of the premier league to eight points. as you might expect in a meeting of the two forces in english football over the last couple of years, it was a game full of talking points. fabinho gave liverpool an early lead, but only after trent alexander arnold was adjudged not to have handled the ball in his own area. it incensed guardiola and many of the city players, wh

our royal coespondent nicholas witchell reports. nicholas: he is continuing with royal duties. last sunday he waseaaying a with his nephews. and yet for month after month, he has been the focus of troubling questions. prince andrew, the queen' second son, one moment seen waving from the doorway of the new york home of convicted child sex offender jeffrey epstein and photographed strolling through central park with him. the headlines have been lurid, relentless, and deeply damaging. most serious of all is the allegation that andrew himself had sex with a girl called virginia roberts went she was 17 years old. 18 years on, virginia roberts giuffre insists she is telling the truth. virginia: he knows what he has about it.iope he comes clean thank you. amnicholas: buckinalace has consistently denied any impropriety by prince andrew. now he has decided to speak for himself to "bbc newsnight." reporter: one of epstein's cusers, virginia roberts, has made allegations against you. she says she met you in 2001, she says she dined with you, danced with you at a nightclub in london, s wen

nicholas witchell, bbc news.getting reaction to that exclusive interview throughout the programme this morning, and in around halfan hour, we'll be speaking to a lawyer for some ofjeffery epstein's accusers. that's at around 6:a0. in other news this morning... the conservatives have set out more details of their plans for immigration after brexit, saying migrants will be treated equally regardless of where they come from. the cost for migrants to use the nhs would also rise. labour, meanwhile, have pledged free dental care in england. let's speak to our political correspondent susana mendonca. what's different about what the conservatives are saying today? i think we have got a bit more detail in terms of what their policies are. we know immigration is a big issue for the conservatives in this election, they think they can pick up voters. we have this commit to ending free movement, which we have heard about from the conservatives, basically saying that eu workers would have to fit the same rules as workers comin