nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.yal correspondent, nicholas witchell. hgppy happy christmas to you, and your thoughts first of all about the queen's message. we have listened to afairfew of queen's message. we have listened to a fair few of them over the years will stop your thoughts about where this sits and what her majesty has been wanting to say this year.‘ couple been wanting to say this year.l couple of things. i think it again underlines the importance to her of her own christian faith. she generally now refers to the teachings ofjesus generally now refers to the teachings of jesus christ generally now refers to the teachings ofjesus christ and weaves the message of reconciliation around his teachings. i think it also underlines the importance to her of the wartime generation, of whom she is of course a part. in this 75th anniversary year of d—day, she made reference to that and again used at around the theme of former sworn enemies, as she said, coming together, settling differences and moving on and coming t

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.earlier, nicholas gave us more of his thoughts about her majesty's message. i think it again underlines the importance to her of her own christian faith. she generally now refers to the teachings ofjesus christ, and she weaves the message of reconciliation around his teachings. i think it also underlines the importance to her of the wartime generation, of whom, of course, she is a part. the fact that in this 75th anniversary year of d—day, she made reference to that and again, used that also, around the theme of former sworn enemies, as she said, coming together, settling their differences, moving on and coming together now, 75 years after the end of the second world war, in peace and amity. the spanish resort where a british man and his two children were found dead in a swimming pool have released a statement saying there were "no concerns relating to the pool or procedures in place". they also claim the incident was a "tragic accident." it's thought a nine—year—old girl got into diff

nicholas witchell, thank you. nicholas witchell, thank you.ed with causing the death by dangerous driving of the teenage motorcyclist harry dunn who died in a road crash in northamptonshire in august. after the accident, anne sacoolas flew back to the united states under diplomatic immunity. extradition proceedings are now under way. tonight she said she would not return volunarily to the uk. duncan kennedy reports. i'm just hoping it's going to be the right choice today. ha rry‘s pa rents, charlotte and tim, travelled to london not knowing what today would bring. but, at the cps headquarters, they were told the main suspect was being charged with dangerous driving. harry's family have spent four months waiting to see if charges would be brought in his case. we really do feel it is one huge step towards that promise to harry, and that in itself is one hell of an achievement as a family to have, and as parents we can't be any more satisfied with ourselves. harry's dad, tim, was also moved by today's events. bit speechless at the minute. i am st

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace. let's get some of the day's other news.of its members have been abducted by the taliban as they were travelling in the west of the country. a spokesman for the people's peace movement said the group began their march from herat province two weeks ago demanding a ceasefire but lost contact after entering farah province. the japanese prime minister shinzo abe has told his chinese counterpart li keqiang that, although bilateral relations are improving steadily, they will continue to suffer unless tensions reduce in the east china sea. but mr li said their efforts to improve relations were back on track. internet services have been disrupted in parts of iran. bbc persian audiences confirmed the outages, while internet monitoring service netblocks said there was a drop in usage. some reports suggest that access to the internet is being cut off ahead of planned anti—government protests on thursday. there have been more clashes in hong kong between police and pro—democracy demonstrators. 0fficers fired teargas and used pepper spra

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.and pro—democracy demonstrators. officers have used tear gas and pepper spray on crowds who gathered again in major shopping districts. the protests began back injune, against a proposal to allow suspects to be extradited to mainland china. that bill was later withdrawn, but the demonstrations have evolved into a broader movement demanding democratic reforms, and more. jon donnison reports. not much christmas cheer in hong kong as security forces once again clashed with pro—democracy demonstrators. plain—clothed undercover officers using pepper spray on protesters who'd occupied a shopping mall, and all this on christmas day. we are trying to let everyone to know that we won't celebrate christmas because we want to protest, even on this joyful day. outside, police used tear gas as they fought running battles with demonstrators — a far cry from the winter wonderland presented on tv by hong kong's beijing—backed leader carrie lam. in her festive message, she wished everyone a safe, happy

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.yphoon phanfone has caused major floods and destruction. more than 25,000 people have been stranded at ports, many of them unable to join their families for christmas. the typhoon, known as ursula in the philippines, has been following a similar track to typhoon haiyyan in 2013, the most powerful to hit the archipelago in a long time. jon donnison reports. a far from peaceful christmas in the central philippines. typhoon pha nfone has brought sustained winds of almost 200 kph. terrifying local people... screaming. ..and leaving a trail of destruction. heavy rain has left many homes flooded. more than 16,000 people had to spend the night in improvised shelters and at least 100 families have been left homeless. in this majority catholic country, the typhoon, which has damaged infrastructure, has stopped many people from visiting their families for christmas. filipinos are well used to tropical storms and typhoons, with around 20 hitting the island nation each year. the most deadly in rec

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.s in the king edward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked slowly but without assistance to the waiting vehicle. there has been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital. in the past he has been treated there for bladder and chest infections. whatever the nature of this latest episode, the duke has satisfied his doctors that he is well enough to return home. the helicopter from buckingham palace to the sandringham estate where the royal family are gathering for christmas. in her christmas broadcast, the queen will talk about a past year which has felt quite bumpy. she hasn't clarified what has felt quite bumpy which will invite speculation. she has talked about reconciliation. the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain part the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain's head of state, urging the country to move on. she also says in the broadcast that small steps can overcome long—held differences. but r

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.lasjoined me a little earlier and gave me more of his thoughts on her majesty's speech. i think it again underlines the importance to her of her own christian faith. she generally now refers to the teachings ofjesus christ and she weaves the message of reconciliation around his teachings. i think it also underlines the importance to her of the wartime generation of whom, of course, she is a part. the fact that in this 75th anniversary year of the d—day, she made reference to that, and again used that also around the theme of the former sworn enemies, as she said, coming together, settling their differences, moving on and coming together 75 years later after the end of the second world war in peace and amity. i think that was the main message. the need for reconciliation and although she never mentions current political divisions, i think it is reasonable to suppose, as i was saying at the end of that piece, that that is the principal thought in her mind as she emphasises the need for t

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace.the swimming pools has declared there are no concerns relating to the pool or the procedures the club carried out. a father and his two children reportedly drowned at club la costa world, near fuengirola. police in spain have launched an investigation. in australia, the annual sydney—hoba rt yacht race is getting started. more than a hundred—and—sixty—five teams are taking part in what is the seventy—fifth running of the competition. but this year sees something new — the first indigenous crew is taking part. the bbc‘s tim allman explains. some final checks for the crew of the tribal warrior. in a race steeped in history and tradition, this is a genuine first. this crew represents the indigenous people of australia, who are, in a way, travelling with them. very, very exciting. and it's brought people from broome, at lightning ridge, at bourke, at coonabarabran, they're all — all the communities are talking and they're all saying that's our boat — and that's very proud. eight of the 11

nicholas witchell, bbc news, at buckingham palace. stay with us on bbc news.art yacht race is set to make history. the world of music's been paying tribute to george michael who's died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective — to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am's maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, 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 the town of sh

nicholas witchell, bbc news.um in five years and teased a new song called yummy, which is due to be released in the new year. the 25—year—old pop star unveiled the news to his 123 million instagram followers on christmas eve with the hashtag bieber2020. the singer says he will go on a us tour between may and september 2020. he has not unveiled a new album since purpose in 2015. now if you're hoping that santa might deliver the latest tesla — the cyber truck this christmas but it's price tag is a little above your budget, then this might be the answer. it's a mock tesla built by a russian car enthusiast and it's been turning heads on the streets of moscow. it's based on an old lada hatchback that he bought forjust over a dollar. it's not as environmentally—friendly as elon musk‘s creation and still has its old engine powering it. since the real cyber truck was unveiled last month tesla said they've received more than 200,000 pre—orders. as for the mock tesla it's pre—order book is currently empty. well, as you can

nicholas witchel, thank you.oman, who was involved in a fatal car crash outside an raf base in northamptonshire, with causing death by dangerous driving. anne sacoolas, the wife of a us intelligence officer, went home to the us after the death of 19—year—old harry dunn in august. harry dunn's mother charlotte charles gave this reaction to today's development. i just want to say a massive thank you to the public and the media. we feel we have taken a huge step in the start of achieving the promise to harry that we made, and that in itself to us as parents to make that promise to him, the night that we lost him, that we would seekjustice, thinking it was going to be really easy, knowing the circumstances that night as we did... we had no idea it was going to be this hard and it would take this long, but we really do feel it is a huge step towards that promise to harry, and that in itself is one hell of an achievement, harry's mother talking to journalists earlier. 0ur correspondent, duncan kennedy, sent us this upd

many thanks. 0ur royal correspondent nicholas witchell.ed in the uk for a summit of nato leaders. air force one touched down at stansted, and the president is now travelling to the us ambassador's residence in central london. 0ur diplomatic correspondent james robbins is there. what can we expect for the next few days? this meeting is in some ways celebrate tree, to mark nato's 70th anniversary year. many of the alliance's leaders think there is plenty to celebrate, the fact the alliance was able to face down the soviet threat throughout the cold war yea rs soviet threat throughout the cold war years but nato has its detractors, not least president trump himself who is now in britain and will shortly be on his way to the american ambassadors residence. many european member states are still not paying their way according to president trump, for the nato collective defence, the us contribute 70% of the budget, but the president believes the argument is going his way. at the other end of the spectrum, france's president emmanuel macron, no fr

nicholas witchel there. the wife of aus nicholas witchel there.rged with causing the death by dangerous driving of the teenage motorcyclist, harry dunn, who died in a road crash and northhamptonshire in august. after the accident, she flew back to the united states under diplomatic immunity. extradition proceedings are now under way tonight, she said that she would not return voluntarily to the uk, duncan kennedy reports. harry's parents charlotte and tim travelled to london not knowing what today would bring. but at the cps headquarters, they were told the main suspect was being charged with dangerous driving. harry's family has spent four months waiting to see if charges would be brought in his case. we really do feel it's a huge step towards that promise to harry. that in of itself is one hell of an achievement. harry, and that in itself is one hell of an achievement as a family to have, and as parents we can't be any more satisfied with ourselves. harry's dad, tim, was also moved by today's events. bit speechless at the minute. i am still in s

nicholas witchell, bbc news.aign trail. 0ur political correspondent, nick eardley, is travelling with the liberal democrats in east england. what has been happening on the campaign trail this afternoon? we are unaware back from chelmsford andjo we are unaware back from chelmsford and jo swinson has been talking about a potential trade deal with the united states after brexit. you had president trump talking earlier about how he did not have much interest in the nhs and did not think that would be on the table. the lib dems are talking about something different, the potential impact that a trade deal with the us could have on farming and on food production. the kind of third coming into the country after a trade deal and in particular warning about things like chlorinated chicken and the kind of beef that would be filled with testosterone. now the us have said in the past they think the uk needs to be more open to those kinds of farming methods so this is potentially something that could be on the table if there i

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.ward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked slowly but without assistance to the waiting vehicle. there's been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital.

with me is our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell. what struck you, nicholas? two themes. usual theme is what she said about the environment. it is not a theme but it is quite striking that she said she has been struck by the sense of purpose, as she described it, young people to protecting our environment and our climate. whether that will be seen to be an endorsement of greta thunberg from queen elizabeth remains to be seen. that is quite unusual. i am sure it reflects the interests and priorities of younger members of the family, prince charles, not a young member, of course, but she is reflecting that. certainly the main theme is reconciliation. she recalled the 75th anniversary of d—day. and talked about the site of former sworn enemies, as she describes them, settling their differences, putting past differences behind them. of course, that theme of reconciliation then leads into this much discussed phrase of quite a bumpy year. and it is still not definitively clear what it is that she was referring to. is she referring to the difficulties within the royalfamily, ref

nicholas witchell is alongside me. it's about who was there and who wasn't.eturning from hospital yesterday, the significant absentee is prince andrew although he went to a service with his elder brother earlier but not attending the main service with the queen, with the core principle members of the royal family, and thatis members of the royal family, and that is a recognition that he has become a sort of negative distraction. if he had attended, a lot of the coverage would have been around him. he has become, one would have to say, something of an embarrassment currently to the royal family soi embarrassment currently to the royal family so i will his daughter, was there with her fiance, family so i will his daughter, was there with herfiance, eugenie, there with herfiance, eugenie, there was no prince andrew. harry and meghan are in canada, it has been well signposted they would not been well signposted they would not be at sandringham this christmas. they are on a six—week break and will be returning to this country sometime in the new year. the signific

here is our royal correspondent nicholas witchell. nepalis says this is a precautionary measure.palace. but i don't detect alarm. it is, though, reported tonight that he was brought from norfolk by helicopter. the palace is not confirming or denying those reports. that would suggest, of course, a degree of urgency, but we are told that he was able to walk into the hospital. certainly the queen was showing no outward sign of concern, as the duke was being brought from norfolk to london, she was setting off by london, she was setting off by london —— from london by train to travel from sandringham to norfolk at the start of her christmas break, and certainly when she arrived at king's lynn station, there was no outward sign of particular concern. and other measures of the —— members of the royal family are continuing with their holiday plans. so now, what might this pre—existing condition be? the palace, again, saying nothing about that. we recall that a little more than 1.5 years ago he had a hip replacement operation. six years ago he was treated for abdominal surgery. eight yea

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.ur nights in the king edward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked, slowly but without assistance, to the waiting vehicle. there has been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital. in the past, he has been treated there for bladder and chest infections. whatever the nature of this latest episode, the duke, who is 98 now, has clearly satisfied his doctors that he is well enough to return home. a helicopter took him from buckingham palace to the queen's sandringham estate where the royal family is gathering for christmas. in her christmas broadcast tomorrow, the queen will talk about a past year which has felt "quite bumpy". she doesn't clarify what it is that has been bumpy, which will inevitably invite speculation. these are her words. talking about reconciliation, she says... the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain's head of state, urging the country to try to move on from the divisions of the brexit debate. but the refer

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.tionary measure and certainly i sense no alarm. concern, of course, because the duke of edinburgh rose 98. edinburgh is 98. there is no sense of alarm that i can detect. he was brought by road, from the queen's estate in norfolk this morning. he travelled not in an ambulance, but in an ordinary royal vehicle. we are told that he walked into the hospital and perhaps the most telling indicator is that is the duke was being brought from norfolk by road to london, queen elizabeth was travelling by railfrom london to norfork to begin her christmas to norfolk to begin her christmas break. so no sense of alarm, no changing of the plans at all. but what might this pre—existing condition be? buckingham palace saying absolutely nothing about that, a year and a half before the duke had a hip replacement operates in six years since he had abdominal surgery. eight years since the most serious health incident when he was admitted as an emergency to pa pworth hospital and having severe chest pains, h

nights in the king edward vii hospital on the advice of his doctor. 0ur royal correspondent, nicholas witchelling edward vii hospital, the duke emerged this morning and walked, slowly but without assistance, to the waiting vehicle. there has been no information about the reason for his stay at the hospital. in the past, he has been treated there for bladder and chest infections. whatever the nature of this latest episode, the duke, who is 98 now, has clearly satisfied his doctors that he is well enough to return home. a helicopter took him from buckingham palace to the queen's sandringham estate where the royal family is gathering for christmas. in her christmas broadcast tomorrow, the queen will talk about a past year which has felt "quite bumpy". she doesn't clarify what it is that has been bumpy, which will inevitably invite speculation. these are her words. talking about reconciliation, she says... the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain's head of state, urging the country to try to move on from the divisions of the brexit debate. but the reference to a bumpy ye

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell is outside the king edward vii hospital for us tonight.a precautionary measure and there is clearly concern. he is 98 years old, but i do not detect alarm. it is reported tonight that he was brought from norfolk by helicopter and the palace is not confirming or denying those reports, which would suggest a degree of urgency, but we are told he was able to walk into the hospital. the queen showed no outward signs of concern as the duke was brought from norfolk to london, she was setting off from london by train to travel to sandringham in norfolk at the start of the christmas break and when she arrived at king‘s lynn station there was no outward sign of any concern and other members of the royal family are continuing with their christmas holiday plans. what might this pre—existing condition be? the palace have said nothing about that, and we recall that a little more than a year and we recall that a little more thana yearand and we recall that a little more than a year and a half ago he had a hip replacement operation mode six yea rs hip rep

our royal correspondent nicholas witchell reports. the pressure on andrew shows no sign of easing.nst him remains absolute. but in her first british television interview, virginia giuffre — virginia roberts, as she was — repeated her story of being trafficked by the sex offenderjeffrey epstein. one of those she was told to sleep with, she told the bbc‘s panorama programme, was prince andrew. she said the instruction came from epstein‘s friend, ghislaine maxwell, after a visit to a london nightclub. so, andrew drives in the other car. he not with us, he's with his security guards. and in the car, ghislaine tells me that... i have to do for andrew what i do forjeffrey. and that made me sick. i just didn't expect it from royalty. do you recall any sexual contact with virginia roberts then any other time? none whatsoever. and yet virginia joffrey ‘s challenge to andrea is a direct one. he knows what happened. i know what happened. and there is only one of us telling the truth. now, us lawyers are intensifying their demands for andrew to step forward and be questioned under oath as a po

nicholas witchell, bbc news. 2017, when they unseated the former ulster unionist party leader, tom elliott. three of the four constituencies neighbouring it are also held by sinn fein — the other by the dup. fermanagh and south tyrone is one of the tightest battle grounds in northern ireland between unionism and nationalism. sinn fein currently have a majority ofjust 875. since the seat was created in 1950, it has been represented by six separate nationalist mps, and five unionist mps. my collegaue, annita mcveigh, is in enniskillen. i'm in the butter market, which is home to studios, galleries and shops, selling locally made arts and craft products. for people who live and work here, the ability to cross the border into the republic of ireland is absolutely vital to their daily lives, so brexit absolutely a dominant issue in this election. in this particular constituency, the brexit supporting dup have stood aside to allow the ulster are you new candidate, who also supports brexit —— ulster unionist party date,

here's our royal correspondent nicholas witchell.t has been a year which at times may have felt quite bumpy, so the queen will say in her christmas broadcast recorded a few days ago at windsor castle. she doesn't clarify what it is at has been bumpy, which will inevitably invite speculation. these are her words talking about reconciliation, she says. the path of course is not always smooth and may at times this year have felt quite bumpy. small steps can make a world of difference. world of quite bumpy. small steps can make a world of difference. the obvious conclusion is that this is a coded message from britain public head of state urging the country to move on from the divisions of the brexit debate. she also says that small steps debate. she also says that small ste ps ca n debate. she also says that small steps can overcome long—held differences and deep—seated division. but the reference to a bumpy year might also be taken to refer to events within her own family after a year which began with the duke of edinburgh's road accide

nicholas witchell, thank you very much.beautiful building. let there has been a market has here sincerely 16005. it is surrounded by water, making it quite a unique island town centre here in ireland. it is a pitch at the moment but know when you're as cold as yesterday morning. there will be first to the south and east. fog not as extensive as it would be 24 hours ago. frost free for the vast majority, some sunny spells at time, most places are dry, certainly dry across parts of scotla nd certainly dry across parts of scotland compared to yesterday, when stitching gale. across orkney and shetland is more especially this morning and the winds pick up later towards the western isles. six, seven or 8 degrees across much of england and wales, 12 spots in the west will reach around ten or 11 celsius later in the day —— one or two spots. into tonight, starting dry with light winds across the south and east of england and wales. we could see some mist and fog patches on some frost form again. the wind continues to pick up in scot

, nicholas witchell? i think she would. she is very pollute —— astute politically. that from him. so this entirely private conversation, which is nearly 20 minutes in length now, i would imagine it would be very much longer. there is the slight complication of the changing of the guard taking place. for those who are curious about these sort of things, it is the navy which is forming the new guard, which is why some people may have spotted her majesty's royal marines in the forecourt of buckingham palace taking over from the foot guards for a few days. that is not something borisjohnson will be concerned about. it is perhapsjust borisjohnson will be concerned about. it is perhaps just delaying his departure for a few moments. there we can see the car still stationary at the king's door, through that central archway. i wouldn't imagine it will be too much longer. there is the old guard, the foot guard. there you can see a royal navy person going into the sentry box to... on the business of the timing of the queen's speech, it was thought it could possibly be next thu

our royal correspondent, nicholas witchell, is here. lawyers will keep at this, this is a very high—profile case. these lawyers, and there are a number of them, they have clients who have, i think, a deal of public sympathy, certainly in the united states, and perhaps over here as well, behind them, and they are not going to let go. so prince andrew must now decide, with his lawyers and advisers, is he going to accept these requests for him to testify, to swear a deposition, as a witness, based on what he knows? it should be said that buckingham palace has already said on his behalf he did not see a witness or suspect any improper behaviour when he was at jeffrey epstein's various homes. but the lawyers would be saying, well, 0k, the lawyers would be saying, well, ok, if that is the case and if he has nothing to hide, then he should present himself to face questions from the lawyers who represent these women. we need to draw a distinction. prince andrew has said he will come question, if required, and the questions from american law enf