Five alleged spies. Prince andrew has answered questions for the first time about his relationship with financierJeffrey Epstein. The prince has been accused of having links to the billionaire who killed himself in prison while awaiting trial on a sex trafficking charges. In an exclusive interview with bbc news, Prince Andrew was asked asked about his relationship with one of the women, Virginia Roberts. She says she was forced to have sex with the duke three times. Buckingham palace has denied all the allegations against him. Our royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. He is continuing with royal duties. Last sunday, he was at the cenotaph, laying a wreath with his nephews. And yet, for month after month, hes been the focus of troubling questions. Prince andrew, the queens 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. 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 when she was 17 years old. 18 years on, Virginia Roberts giuffre, as she is now, insists shes telling the truth. He knows exactly what hes done and i hope he comes clean about it. Thank you. Buckingham palace has consistently denied any impropriety by Prince Andrew. Now, hes decided to speak for himself to bbc newsnights emily maitlis. One of epsteins accusers, Virginia Roberts, has made allegations against you. She says she met you in 2001. She says she dined with you, danced with you at tramp nightclub in london. She went on to have sex with you in a house in belgravia belonging to ghislaine maxwell, your friend. Your response . I have no recollection of ever meeting this lady. None whatsoever. You dont remember meeting her . No. It was in 2001, according to Virginia Roberts, that she had sex with andrew on three occasions, including one orgy. The palace has denied that. In 2008, epstein was convicted of procuring for prostitution a girl under the age of 18. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison. It was in 2010, after epstein had been released from prison, that andrew visited him in new york and stayed at his mansion. How does he explain that . The problem was the fact that once he had been convicted. You stayed with him. I stayed with him. And thats the bit that that, as it were, i kick myself for on a daily basis, because it was not something that was becoming of a member of the royal family, and we try and uphold the highest standards and practises, and i let the side down. Simple as that. But nothing about this story is simple. Jeffrey epstein cant answer questions he took his own life in august. As for andrew, the us authorities will undoubtedly very much like to hear his account of everything he witnessed. You can find out exactly what the duke of york had to say about his friendship with the late Jeffrey Epstein by watching Prince Andrew and the epstein scandal, the newsnight interview, its on this saturday and sunday on bbc world news. In the uk, you can catch it at 9pm on saturday on bbc 2. 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. Marie yovanovitch told the Congressional Committee that Donald Trumps personal lawyer had worked to discredit her and she says his government had been manipulated by corrupt foreign interests. 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 Trumps 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. So, what did she think when she learned of this a couple of months back . I was. Shocked and devastated that i would feature in a phone call between two heads of state in such a manner, where President Trump said that i was bad news to another world leader and that i would be going through some things. So i was. It was a terrible moment. Then, while she was giving evidence, and unbeknown to her, the president went on the attack again, tweeting that things went bad wherever she served. She was made aware of this by the chairman of the committee. Well, its very intimidating. Its designed to intimidate, is it not . I mean, i cant speak to what the president is trying to do, but i think the effect is to be intimidating. Well, i want to let you know, ambassador, that some of us here take witness intimidation very, very seriously. Republicans too were uneasy, but donald trump denied that hed done anything wrong. Sir, do you believe your tweets or words can be intimidating . I dont think so at all. Go ahead. Impeachment is the mechanism by which a sitting president could be removed from office for high crimes and misdemeanors. The first stage is a vote in the house of representatives, which has to be carried by a simple majority. If thats passed, then the articles of impeachment go to the upper chamber. And here, the president is put on trial, with the 100 senators acting as the jury. For donald trump to be removed from office, two thirds of senators would have to find him guilty a threshold thats never been reached before. This has been an uncomfortable day for donald trump. Tweeting against Marie Yovanovitch while she was giving evidence wasnt a smart move, raising questions about whether he was trying to intimidate a witness. But theres no sign that republicans are peeling away from him. And the less they do, the impeachment process goes nowhere and he certainly wont be removed from office. Jon sopel, bbc news, washington. Lets see if we can hack our way through this. Im joined by the professor at brown university. What stood out to you from the former ambassadors testimony . Stood out to you from the former ambassadors testimony . stood out to you from the former ambassadors testimony . I think the huge surprise was that in the middle of testimony in an unprecedented move that the president of the United States began to attack her, and that was an unscripted moment that you displayed where the chairman asked her a very simple question, a very human question, which is, how do you feel about what just happened, and she told the truth which is that she felt intimidated and you could see emotionally, watching it, that there was a kind of fear that the most powerful person in the world was criticising her as she was engaged in an act of truth telling. That speaks to me more about this presidency than anything else that we have seen. It is a president who has not just abuse we have seen. It is a president who has notjust abuse power, but has done so with impunity and continues to do it, even in front of the American People and even in front of the United States congress. This will be a moment i think for the history books. Is it actually legally wrong or potentially politically impeachable for mr trump to have tweeted during her testimony . It is both. You cant intimidate a wet nurse in congress, and ina intimidate a wet nurse in congress, and in a court were to find that and bea and in a court were to find that and be a prosecution, then yes it is potentially criminal. More importantly is the other point is that when the congress is considering acts of impeachment, the articles of impeachment, it doesnt need to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and it doesnt need to find a criminal offence. It is about abuse of office and certainly obstructing the investigation, in obstructing the investigation, in obstructing it themselves. During Richard Nixon itself there was an article about impeachment about his non compliance and subpoenas in his attempt to undermine the congressional power of impeachment investigations, and that is what you just saw today. It was a really astonishing moment. The way the current numbers in the senate like, a conviction of President Trump meaning he would have to leave office would have required 20 republican senators to abandon him and break ranks and vote to remove him. Do you see any sign of those 20, whether they may be, breaking ranks . Were not seeing it yet. Maybe mitt has given indications and Susan Collins as well, but in order to get those phone numbers, we are going to see a shift in Public Opinion and the swing states and republican senators are going to have to start to realise that their duty is to put country above party, as the republicans did many of them during the watergate impeachment and removal which was bipartisan, and also, the other thing as Public Opinion. As it begins to show them that they might lose their seat, they are less secure in theirjobs than they thought if they stand by the president , that will change things. Public opinion is surging for impeachment, for the investigation. We are now in the high 50s when it comes to american who support impeachment investigations and for contracts, when nixon resigned, it was high 50s as well of people who supported his resignation. This is supporting the investigation, not removal, but it is still pretty close and the pressure is starting to mount. Thank you very much. My pleasure. Lets get some of the other news now. Roger stone, a long time adviser to donald trump, has been convicted on several criminal court counts of lying to congress, obstruction and witness tampering. Mr stones trial in washington was an offshoot of investigations into russian interference in the campaign. Interlink, voting is under way to elect the countrys next president. Security and develop and have been keyissues security and develop and have been key issues with the election coming seven months after a terrorist attack that killed more than 250 people. The final result is affected to be announced by monday. Anti government protesters in chile are back on the street a day after the government agreed to hold a referendum on replacing the countrys constitution. The current one dates back to the era of military leader augusto pinochet. Project leaders on any new constitution to declare that health and education are responsibilities of the state. Referendum will take ways in april next year. Take place. The deposed president of bolivia has said that he will stand for office again in any rerun of last months election if the socialist party wants him to. Speaking from exile in mexico, the morales also told the bbc that elections could go ahead without him. For almost a week, teargas strikes and chaos have been the normal. Supporters of morale is clashed with police on a daily basis over the way their leader has power. Now they are angry after the new government severed ties with a long standing socialist ally in venezuela. They blame his attempt to stay in office for the violence on the streets. Translation the bolivian people have reclaimed the light to elect the authorities. That is what is behind all this chaos. An election on the 20th of october, was a blatant fraud. After the military asked him to stand down, he was whisked to mexico and granted asylum. The bbc spoke to him and he was characteristically defiant over disputed vote. Translation we won in the first round. The problem is i dont recognise the victory. We won. And i have never asked state institutions to help me. Back in bolivias unrest, the government hopes to hold another election in 90 days. There is no clear timetable, but the personnel sitting in moraless recently vacated share says he wont be allowed to take part. Translation he should face justice because when morales left in the most cowardly way, he knows he must a nswer to most cowardly way, he knows he must answer to the Justice System and is breaking all the protocols of asylum by openly engaging in politics, which isnt permitted when one is granted asylum. The standoff in bolivia isnt going to be fixed easily. As well as ties with venezuela, new government has also cut a medical programme with cuba trying to consign socialist agenda of morales to the past. He supporters still refuse to break back down. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come make the joys of spanish. We meet the American Children discovering the abundance of learning a second language for the first time. Benazir bhutto has claimed victory in pakistans general election and shes asked pakistans president to name her as prime minister. Jacksons 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 first growing european anti nuclear movement. The South African government has announced that its opening the countrys 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 queens 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 in an extraordinary interview does make explicit interview, Prince Andrew has said he let the royal family down by continuing to associate with convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein. The former Us Ambassador to ukraine has told the impeachment enquiry she felt threatened and intimidated by President Trump. Its been described as one of the worst incidents of its kind on a football field. It happened during a game between the Cleveland Browns any pittsburgh steelers. Mars garrett is now facing a lengthy band for an attack on steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with eight seconds left. He wrestled rudolph to the ground after he released the ball, ripped off his helmet and swung it at his head. After the game, garrett explained his amateurs. I lost my cool and i regretted. Regret it. The guys jumped in into the scrum and i appreciate my team had my back but it should never have gotten that far. Lindsey jones is a writer and commentator on the afl, she joins me now from denver, colorado. Lindsey, its a rough and tumble game, that is why lots of people love the nfl, but you cant just is why lots of people love the nfl, but you cantjust bash people over the head with their own helmet. Whats been the fallout from this . Yeah. Its been massive. From the second this happen, very late on the east coast, thursday night, its been a very swift backlash. The nfl only took a matter of, less than 2a hours, less than 12 hours for them to come out and issue this indefinite ban or mars garrett, which is an unprecedented suspension for a single incident of violence on the football field. Weve seen some other players have two, three games, five games in the past, but this is very significant for Myles Garrett. It has the nfl evaluating its policies on violence and tolerance for these kind of events. We showed still photos there, but in the meeting for did she really tugs at the helmet. That isjust meeting for did she really tugs at the helmet. That is just not something you see in the nfl . Absolutely not. This is a very rare type of situation. You can look back throughout nfl history and there are lots of examples of egregious aggression and behaviour, especially in the early days of the nfl. But they really put this focus on player safety a nd they really put this focus on player safety and head injuries and you have to remember you cant watch this incident that happened last night with Myles Garrett swinging his helmet, heading up the head of Mason Rudolph without remembering that one month ago Mason Rudolph was physically knocked out cold by a hit ina physically knocked out cold by a hit in a football game. So this is a very violent game, were to helmet to helmet hits, but this was brutal to helmet hits, but this was brutal to watch, this was an act of violence. If this had happened on the street or in a bar, mars garrett Myles Garrett would have been arrested and charged with assault. It seems that it was a crisis averted that Mason Rudolph wasnt more severely injured. A massive issue in the sport has been concussion. How has what we saw on the sport enter into that wider discussion about safety . You have to look at the entire game last night between the Cleveland Browns and the pittsburgh steelers. Three pittsburgh steelers. Three pittsburgh players were knocked out of the game with concussions, two of which came on brutal but legal helmet to helmet heads. So there is a lot of education about players and their head health. This was a huge setback to all of that. The initiatives and rule changes arent helping because the replays were knocked out of this game. And then myles ga rretts knocked out of this game. And then Myles Garretts tremendous act of violence and extreme disregard for other players safety. Lindsey jones in denver, thank you so much. Thank you. Russia, norway and lithuania have taken part in a carefully co ordinated operation that saw the exchange of five convicted spies. This is what took place in the russian on clever kaliningrad and took weeks to organise. The bbcs tim allman has the story. This border guard was arrested by the russians and charged of espionage. He was convicted to 1a years despite denying the charges. Now he is free and heading home. Translation he is in lithuania, along with representatives of the norwegian authorities and his lawyer. He will come home to norway as soon lawyer. He will come home to norway as soon as lawyer. He will come home to norway as soon as it is practically possible. I had a quick conversation by phone with him and said welcome home to norway. Also looking forward toa home to norway. Also looking forward to a warm welcome home, nikolai philipjanko to a warm welcome home, nikolai philip janko and the to a warm welcome home, nikolai philipjanko and the game with yanco. Two russian men who were arrested and convicted of spying on with the way now, not long after two lithuanian men were convicted of spying in russia. So, five spies, three countries, one obvious solution. A classic cold war style spy solution. A classic cold war style spy swap. The exchange taking place ata spy swap. The exchange taking place at a border post in the russian on clave of kaliningrad. Translation the state must defend its citizens and use all available tools for that. Citizens must know that the state would not abandon them. This is one of the foundations of trust in ones own country. He will soon be back home with his family, his ordeal at an end. An agent of a foreign power, or an innocent man wrongly convicted . His whole event a reminder that my craft and espionage live on. Tim allman, bbc news. Taylor swifts former record label has rebuffed her proclaims that it is blocking her from has rebuffed her proclaims that it is blocking herfrom performing her own hits in the forthcoming American Music awards. The popstar said music executives would not let her perform songs from her past albums, to which they own the rights. She said a Netflix Documentary about her life had also been put injeopardy. The two mens Big Machine Records say the statement is based on false information. Lets face it, its ha rd information. Lets face it, its hard enough to spell in your own language, imagine mastering it in another language . Some of these kids are learning spanish and we put the bravest ones to the test. Yes that was some test. The remainder of our top story. In an exclusive interview with the bbc, Prince Andrew says he let the royal family down by continuing to associate with convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein. You can find out more on our website. Im on twitter. Please do stay with us for the next few hours on bbc news. Hello. There is a bit more rain in the forecast for this weekend, but hopefully not as much as we had through the week or indeed, as much as weve had through the autumn so far. It looks like some places may well break records, so far this autumn sheffield have recorded over 400 millimetres of rain, just shy of the previous autumn record. Provisional figures suggest that nottingham, with 348 millimetres of rain, mayjust have beaten the previous autumn record rainfall. There is more of autumn to come of course and some showery rain in the forecast for this weekend, but also some spells of sunshine. Its quite a complex weather pattern. Low pressure over the near continent, a frontal system pushing in from the west, the two staging something of a pincer movement, bringing areas of cloud and patchy rain in towards our shores. Now, in between theres a zone of clear skies for scotland and Northern Ireland, thats where we are starting the day with a frost. And some fog patches across northern scotland, some of which will be quite stubborn through the day ahead. Generally, i think we will see a bit more cloud spreading into scotland and Northern Ireland as the day wears on. Eastern and southern scotland seeing some splashes of rain and those grey and damp conditions extend across northern england, down into parts of the midlands. The odd sharp shower for south west of wales down into cornwall, but for the south east of england, well, here a decent chance of seeing some dry weather and even a little bit of sunshine. Another chilly day, but not quite such a windy one as weve been used to lately. Now through saturday night into sunday, still these areas of cloud and showery rain around, it will turn a bit cloudier for a good part of scotland and Northern Ireland. Where you do keep clear skies, and some places will, it will turn into a bit of a chilly night. So on sunday, really were just chasing these areas of cloud and showery rain around the map. It looks like two parts of northern england, wales, the south west, people will see cloud and some showers at times. To the south east of that, a fighting chance of seeing at least some dry weather. And for Northern Ireland and scotland, it should turn increasingly break through the day. Its still chilly, single digit temperatures for most of us. Now, into the start of the new working week, this little ridge of High Pressure is going to try to work its way across the british isles. And that should give a drier and brighter day on monday. This is the day where we do get to dry out. There will be a few showers brought into north sea coastal areas on a brisk, northerly wind, but otherwise its fine. There is some sunshine. It stays pretty chilly, 6 10 degrees at best. But as we head deeper into the week, it does turn more unsettled again. We will see further outbreaks of rain, heaviest in the west. It will be windy, but it will turn a bit milder. This is bbc news. Our top stories Prince Andrew has answered questions about his links toJeffrey Epstein. He said he let the side down by staying at his home in new york. Buckingham palace has denied all allegations of inappropriate behaviour. President trump has been accused of intimidating a witness. She was in test she was testifying at the impeachment hearing. It is alleged he sought improper assistance from the ukraine in attempts to discredit his political rival, joe biden. The president of bolivia says he will stand for office again in any rerun of last month was my collection if his socialist party wants him to. Speaking from exile in mexico, he told the bbc elections could also