here's our royal correspondent, jonny dymond. michael fawcett was once one of prince charles�* closest aides, a man whom the prince relied upon to guide and organise his personal life. three years ago, he became chief executive of the prince's foundation — an umbrella group for a number of prince charles�* charitable interests. newspaper reports allege that mr fawcett offered to assist a wealthy saudi national and major donor to the prince�*s foundation with citizenship and with an honour. mahfouz marei mubarak bin mahfouz received an honorary cbe in late 2016. 0ne palace source stressed the distance between prince charles�* office and his foundation, but michael fawcett is renowned for his closeness to prince charles and this is an embarrassment for the prince. the foundation said it took the allegations very seriously and that the matter is under investigation. the foundation failed to respond to a number of other allegations raised by the newspapers. to afghanistan, where economic and social uncertainty is growing as

jonny dymond, bbc news. a female police officer in central afghanistan has been shot dead by armed men inside her home. banu negar�*s family told the bbc the gunmen tied them up and searched the house before killing her. she was heavily pregnant. despite a journalist saying he witnessed the attack by the taliban in ghor province, the family couldn't confirm if the group was responsible. they have denied all involvement. earlier, pakistan chaired a virtual meeting on afghanistan, bringing together neighbouring countries, including china and iran. an official statement said they'd agreed that peace in afghanistan was crucial to the region's security. 0ur south asia correspondent danjohnson has the latest from delhi. we have reliable accounts that three gunmen went to the home of that female police officer last night, tied her up as they searched her home, and then shot her in front of her husband and children. exactly who those gunmen were remains unclear. the family say they can't confirm whether that was t

here's more from our royal correspondent, jonny dymond. michael fawcett was once of prince charles �*s closest aides, a man whom the prince relied upon to guide and organise his personal life. three years ago he became chief executive of the princes foundation, a number of the princes foundation, a number of the princes foundation, a number of the group for a number of prince charles �*s charitable interests. newspaper reports allege that mr fawcett offered to assist a wealthy saudi national and major donor to the foundation with citizenship and with an honour. he received an honorary cbe in late 2016. one palace source stressed the distance between prince charles �*s office and his foundation but michael fawcett is renowned for his closeness to prince charles and this is an embarrassment for the prince. foundation it took the allegations seriously on the matter is under investigation. the foundation failed to respond to a number of other allegations raised by the newspapers. taliban officials have broken up a demonstration by dozens

our royal correspondent jonny dymond has more. this is important because it's the first time that the judge and the lawyers for the woman who has actually made this allegation, virginia giuffre, have actually met. and what we expect is a consideration of whether or not and how this case might go forward. prince andrew has always denied the allegation of sexual assault — he says he can't remember meeting this woman, and his team have pretty much dismissed this case. this is a civil case, not a criminal case, a claim for compensation and damages, and his team have nearly alwaysjust said, "no comment, nothing to say about this case." now they are faced with the question of whether or not the court will accept that the allegations have been formally put to prince andrew, whether or not papers were served on him. this might sound like a fairly tedious technicality, but it is really important. if thejudge says, "yes, ok, i acknowledge that the papers have been served on prince andrew," something his lawyers are casting doubt on, then

jonny dymond, thank you ve much absence? jonny dymond, thank you very much indeed. _ our top story this lunchtime... covid vaccines for 12— to 15—year—olds are expected to be approved shortly. and coming up... a survey shows there was great pride in the nhs during the pandemic, but what do patients think now? coming up what do patients think now? coming up on the bbc news channel, ian poulter is one of the captain's wildcard picks for the ryder cup. he isjoined by sergio wildcard picks for the ryder cup. he is joined by sergio garcia and wildcard picks for the ryder cup. he isjoined by sergio garcia and shane lowry. rose misses out. britain's emma raducanu says she's ready for anything and can cope with her sudden rise to stardom after winning the us open. tennis stars past and present have continued to praise the 18—year—old's astonishing performance. she beat leylah fernandez on saturday to become the first qualifier, and first british woman for 44 years, to win a grand slam singles title. she is now predicted to

jonny dymond, bbc news. a ceremony of lights, fireworks and dancing has closed the paralympic games injapan. great britain�*s athletes finished second in the medal table, winning 12a medals — including a1 golds. andy swiss reports from tokyo. last but definitely not least. britain�*s final medal of the games was one of its most emotional. a badminton bronze for a tearful krysten coombs. earlier there had also been bronze in the wheelchair basketball. the british team finished with 12a medals across a record 18 sports — and with their leader full of praise. how would you sum up what this team have achieved? history—making. they�*ve ripped up the stats and we put a marker down in terms of the depth of talent. and we are very, very proud of what we�*ve achieved out here in tokyo. and so the end of a successful games for britain and an unprecedented one for the paralympics. despite being postponed for a year and held during the pandemic, tokyo 2020 has finally reached the finish line. amid a colour

our royal correspondent jonny dymond has more details. on monday the lawyers went head—to—head in new york arguing _ head—to—head in new york arguing over whether the papers had been — arguing over whether the papers had been properly heard. allegations the prince denies. it allegations the prince denies. “ will— allegations the prince denies. it will assist those lorries and — it will assist those lorries and serving the papers are now the judge — and serving the papers are now the judge in new york has said, as you — the judge in new york has said, as you say, _ the judge in new york has said, as you say, that the papers can be served — as you say, that the papers can be served on the prince's us lawyer, _ be served on the prince's us lawyer, the man who spoke on monday — lawyer, the man who spoke on monday. that means this case will almost certainly now go ahead _ will almost certainly now go ahead. gloria says that a deal struck— ahead. gloria says that a deal struck with jeffrey epstein, the one—time frien

our royal correspondent jonny dymond has more details. on wednesday the high court said it would assist lawyers for virginia giuffre, the woman who made the allegations against the prince, allegations the prince denies. it will assist those lawyers and serving the papers and now the judge in new york has said, as you say, that the papers can be served on the principles us lawyer. the man who spoke on monday. that means the case will almost certainly now overhead. that lawyer says that a deal struck by virginia giuffre in 2009, withjeffrey epstein, one—time friend of the prince, convicted paedophile, that deal will make any court case against prince andrew null and void. but that deal is secret and sealed and only when the case proceeds might it be opened. when the coronavirus pandemic first took hold in new york, all the city's theatres and concert venues closed their doors. broadway has begun to re—open, and now one of the big apple's premier orchestras is returning to the stage. the new york philharmonic is putting on its first seas

our royal correspondent jonny dymond is here. jonny, where are we in this process now? clive, it has been a week of legal manoeuvring centred around this issue of serving the papers containing the allegations against the prince either into his hands or into the hands of his lawyers. on monday the lawyers went head—to—head in new york arguing over where there is —— whether those papers had been properly surfaced on wednesday the high court here said it would assist lawyers for virginia giuffre, the women who made those allegations against the prince, allegations that prince denies, it would assist in serving those papers, and now the judge in new york has said, as you say, the papers can be served on the prince's us lawyer, the man who spoke on monday. that means this case will almost certainly now go ahead. that lawyer says that a deal struck by virginia giuffre in 2009, with jeffrey struck by virginia giuffre in 2009, withjeffrey epstein, one—time friend of the prince, convicted paedophile, that that deal would make any court case against prince andrew null a

jonny dymond, bbc news. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. hi, john. hello and welcome. chaotic scenes as... brazil and argentina's world cup qualifier has been suspended — after play was brought to a halt just minutes after kick off after brazilian health officials objected to the participation of three argentine players they believe broke quarantine rules. the visitors walked off the pitch at the corinthians arena after the officials came out to stop the game. the intervention came hours after brazil's health authorities had said four england—based players for argentina had to quarantine. although it did not name the four, the players with english premier league clubs are emiliano buendia and emiliano martinez of aston villa and giovani lo celso and cristian romero of tottenham hotspur. martinez, lo celso and romero all started the game in sao paulo. i'm joined now by south american football expert tim vickery. hello to you. what is the latest, and in these exc

our royal correspondent jonny dymond has more details. on monday, the last one had in the air cover whether those papers have been properly served. on wednesday, the high court here is that it would assess the layers, the woman who made those allegations that are denied. he will insist —— assist those layers. he will assist those lawyers. it's been a week of legal manoeuvring centred around this issue of serving the papers containing the allegations against the prince either into his hands or into the hands of his lawyers. on monday, the lawyers went head—to—head in new york arguing over whether those papers had been properly served. ——on wednesday, the high court here said it would assist lawyers for virginia giuffre, the woman who made those allegations against the prince, allegations that prince denies, it would assist lawyers in serving those papers. and now, thejudge in new york has said, as you say, the papers can be served on the prince's us lawyer, the man who spoke on monday. that means that this case will almost cert

dymond has more details. 0n on monday, the last one had in the air cover whether those papers have been properly served. 0n papers have been properly served. on wednesday, the high court here is that it would assess the layers, the woman who made those allegations that are denied. he will insist —— assist those layers. ——on wednesday, the high court here said it would assist lawyers for virginia giuffre, the woman who made those allegations against the prince, allegations that prince denies, it would assist lawyers in serving those papers. and now, thejudge in new york has said, as you say, the papers can be served on the prince's us lawyer, the man who spoke on monday. that means that this case will almost certainly now go ahead. that lawyer says that a deal struck by virginia giuffre in 2009 withjeffrey epstein, one—time friend of the prince, convicted paedophile, that that deal would make any court case against prince andrew null and void. but that deal is secret and sealed, and only when the case proceeds might it be opened. stay with us on bbc news, still to come:. fake p

jonny dymond, bbc news. time for a look at the weather. he is chris fawkes. we've seen a bit of patchy cloud since the clear blue skies, nevertheless a lot of dry, fine weather. however, the northern ireland we'll see the cloud continue to thicken here with outbreaks of rain starting to spread in, as these weather fronts just our west start to approach and these fronts will be bringing more of us rain over the next couple of days as we will see in a moment. over the next few hours turning wet in northern ireland. the rain most persistent across western counties. turning quite cloudy for western scotland but east scotland along with england and wales dry and sunny spells, feeling warm, temperatures as high as 23 degrees. overnight tonight the rain will begin to spread from northern ireland into scotland. you might get an odd patch across the western most areas of england and wales but otherwise dry with some mist and fog patches particularly across southern areas. temperatures 10—14. tomorrow, the weather front is going to be very, very slow moving on friday

the duke of york has always denied any wrongdoing. 0ur royal correspondent jonny dymond is here. brings up to date with where we are with the legal standing. it’s brings up to date with where we are with the legal standing.— with the legal standing. it's been a week of legal _ with the legal standing. it's been a week of legal manoeuvring, - with the legal standing. it's been a week of legal manoeuvring, mostl with the legal standing. it's been a | week of legal manoeuvring, most of it centred on this issue of getting the allegations, in paperform, into the allegations, in paperform, into the hands of either prince andrew or his lawyers. 0n the hands of either prince andrew or his lawyers. on monday, the lawyers went head—to—head in new york, trying to work out whether these papers have been properly served. 0n papers have been properly served. on wednesday, the high court here said it would assist the lawyers for virginia giuffre, who has accused prince andrew of sexual assault, something he has always denied, assist them in getting the papers properly served. now this j

jonny dymond, bbc news. there's a growing backlash in the conservative party to suggestions of increasing national insurance contributions in order to fund social care in england. the former chancellor lord hammond has warned borisjohnson that he'll damage the party if he adopts the policy, which would break a manifesto commitment. here's our political correspondent damian grammaticas. this is kate visiting her mother, carolyn, who is 75, in a care home with dementia. kate is selling her mother's flat to pay for the care. £7,000 every month, and it has risen fast. the stress of, will you be able to afford it? we heard about these astronomical care home prices and they are, the fees are not sustainable, certainly with mum's fees going up a5% in six years, should i ever need to go into a care home, i dread to think what the price will be. the care system is in crisis. some pay all of their costs if they have assets, others rely on local authorities who struggle to fund adequate provision. and battered by the

jonny dymond reports. a power pose for a power couple. they may no longer be working royals but time magazine reckons they are amongst the 100 most influential people in the world. why? the head of a charity they support explains. "in a world where everyone has an opinion about "people they don't know, the duke and duchess have compassion "for the people they don't know. "they don'tjust opine, the run toward the struggle." they are in some exalted company. also on the list, teen angst singer—songwriter billie eilish, us presidentjoe biden, and former president donald trump. the couple may be far from these shores but they remain busy. most recently, meghan wrote and published a children's book, the bench. and that includes you, harry. and harry has been rubbing shoulders, virtually at least, with the first lady of the united states, jill biden, talking

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simon jones, bbc news. 0ur royal correspondent jonny dymond is with me. johnny, some of those statements don�*t seem to square with some of the allegations that the newspapers made. how serious are they? the allegations _ made. how serious are they? the allegations are _ made. how serious are they? tue: allegations are very made. how serious are they? tte: allegations are very serious. they are effectively suggesting that owners are up for sale and that the prince or the prince�*s organisation, the prince�*s foundation, was going to support an application for citizenship in exchange for donations. the critical person in the midst of this is michael fawcett because, you know, you introduced him, he said he is the former valet to the pinch. that is absolutely true, he left in 2003, but this is a man who was at the prince�*s side literally and metaphorically for decades. he laid out his clothes, organises private life, sorted out who sat next to him at the big dinners and things like that. this is a right—hand man in every sense of the world. it is

jonny dymond, bbc news. with millions of visitors each year, national parks are among the most popular tourist destinations in the uk. but competition to be awarded the special status of national park can be fierce, because of the investment that comes with the title. now, campaigners behind one unsuccessful bid — the south pennines — say a new system of recognition is needed. judy hobson reports. in the hills above burnley, it's obvious to see why this area was once in the running to become a national park. this rich landscape is steeped in cultural and industrial heritage. but what the south pennines doesn't have is a brand. above us is burnley, pendle hill. sweeping across you've got the yorkshire dales in the background. helen noble is on a mission to change that. she wants the south pennines to be recognised as a national landscape which she believes will help protect it. it would certainly give everyone a sense of place, somewhere that's well known. but for us, it's very much bringing that investme