Strong and gusty wind. Temperatures just above freezing but icy where we have the snow in particular. Rain keeps coming for the northern isles. Rain, snow, moving northwards for scotland. Tended hello. To become more showery for the former us Vice President , joe biden, northern ireland, england and has won the latest democratic wales. Hopefully there will be president ial primary. Victory in South Carolina was regarded as vital more sunshine around. The wind to mr bidens survival after unimpressive performances is starting to ebb away in previous state ballots. Heres his reaction on winning. Maintaining their strength a little bit for longer further north. It will make it feel chilly if you are out and about. For the start of march, this is a moment, and it has arrived. Belly double figures even in maybe sooner than anyone guessed it would. The south. Below par for the but its here. Start of the meteorological spring. Southern parts could get a stitching of snow. Making and the decisions democrats make all across america in the next few days will determine what this party stands for, what we believe, things slippery with a cold and what well get done. Night on the clouds. We clear if the democrats nominate me, ill believe we can beat donald trump. That away but it takes its time. A smattering of snow. The joe biden speaking there. Show is that follow will be current frontrunner Bernie Sanders addressed supporters shortly wintry as well over the hills. After the vote. You cant win em all a lot of states out there. Only 6 nine celsius and the and tonight, we did not winds will not be as strong. As we ta ke win in South Carolina. Winds will not be as strong. As we take that Blood Pressure away on monday, another one rushing it through southern areas and that could be our booing. And that will not be next dollop of rain. It looks the only defeat. There are a lot of states in this country and as if Blood Pressure will nobody wins them all. Dominate the north west and we i want to congratulate joe biden on his may eventually see high victory tonight. Pressure building towards the south but for most of the week temperatures will be lower than they should be both by day and night. A bit of a showery Bernie Sanders speaking a few picture with the occasional risk of spells of rain. Hours ago. Our correspondent, Barbara Plett usher is in South Carolina and says warnings on the website. The win forjoe biden is significant. This is a moment forjoe biden to savour. It is the big win that he wanted. It was propelled by overwhelming support from black voters, which he had predicted, he said they would revive his struggling campaign. Now it is expected he will get political endorsements and funds, which will give him momentum as he goes into super tuesday, that day when voters in m states we re day when voters in m states were cast never ballots, Bernie Sanders has been the front runner, he is projected to have a strong showing in super tuesday. However, mr biden is going to be the chief rival against mr sanders in that crucial vote. He is very much a contender. Barbara plett usher speaking there atjoe bidens democratic vote. A state of emergency has been declared in the Western State of washington following the announcement of americas first death from the new coronavirus. The Health Authorities said the victim was a man in his fifties in king county, which includes the states biggest city, seattle. Meanwhile, china has reported more than 570 new cases the highest daily increase for a week. Rich preston reports. This is bbc news. The man was one of two the headlines patients who were confirmed joe biden has been handed a major to have the disease boost in the democratic contest at a hospital in seattle, to take on donald trump in the us state of washington. In novembers election. The former Vice President has won the partys primary in South Carolina. Its be a welcome result after poor performances in the race so far. Health officials there have now declared a state of emergency. President trump says President Trump says its time theres no reason to panic. For american soldiers to come home additional cases in from afghanistan after the us signed the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should an agreement with the militant be able to fully recover. Group, the taliban. And we think that will be he said the us had committed to withdraw five thousand troops a statement that we can make by may and that he would meet with great surety now that weve gotten familiar with this problem. Taliban leaders in the nearfuture. The president s also urging calm after coronavirus claimed its first three people in the us have now life on us soil. He said more cases were likely contracted the virus but that the country from within their communities. Was well prepared. The victim who was in his fifties, was being treated in hospital in Washington State and is said to have had Underlying Health conditions. The World Health Organization now counts 85,500 cases globally. China, where the outbreak started, has reported more than 570 new cases, the highest daily increase for a week. The total number of fatalities in china is now 2,870. In the worst hit part of south korea, the country with the highest number of cases outside of china, the army has been drafted in to disinfect public spaces. There are now more than 3500 cases in the country and have been 17 deaths. Health Officials Say a 45 day old baby has become the countrys youngest patient. France, which has more than 100 confirmed cases, has banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people as part of efforts to tackle the spread of the disease. Italy remains europes worst hit country. Its extended the closure of schools and hospitals. Recent countries to announce their first cases include qatar and ecuador. Efforts to develop a vaccine to covid 19 are ongoing. But there is no clear idea of when one may be available, and how it could be rolled out on such a huge global scale. Richard preston, bbc news. A short while ago i spoke with professor marc lipsitch, director of epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health about the likelyhood of further fatalities in the us. I think it is unfortunately possible. I think we are, in the us, beginning to discover probably a situation not that different from that in many other countries which have discovered it sooner. Which is that there has been a lot of ongoing transmission over the last few weeks and we are seeing cases, and when we see a death, unfortunately, that means there are probably many other cases behind it, that were not so severe. Here in the uk and in many other countries, the government is focusing making containment work. Is containment actually a realistic strategy . I think containment is increasingly looking unlikely to succeed, well, it is almost certainly unlikely to succeed globally. I think in some countries that dont yet have a lot of reported cases, containment efforts are still justified, as we try to slow things down. But i think increasingly we are also going to have to combine those efforts with mitigation efforts that include these sorts of things you just discussed with closing public gatherings and trying to increase, reduce, sorry, trying to reduce the number of contacts people have with one another. Yes, we havejust heard about the 570 new cases in one day in china. How worrying is that . Obviously china is where it started, but the number of new cases was decreasing daily. Well, i think it has now become clear that chinas extremely intensive social distancing efforts, as they are called, combined with efforts to track and isolate cases, really did bring the epidemic temporarily under control. The problem is that those efforts are very hard to maintain, if you need people to be able to work and go to school and do all the normal activities of daily life. So the challenge is to keep enough distance, social distance, as it is called, to slow things, while still allowing people to live a normal, a somewhat normal life. Yes, lots of this sounds pretty bleak. Is there any reason to be optimistic . Well, i think it is good news that china was able, that those really intensive measures in china were enough to bring the epidemic under control. That gives us some hint about how contagious this virus is, and that it is possible, but i think what we are going to have to live with some kind of compromise between slowing but not stopping it, and getting on with life. So im not that optimistic that we are going to see a return to normalcy in the next few months, for sure. Finally, professor, what should people watching this programme be doing to protect themselves . The standard things to improve their general health, getting their vaccinations, if they are not up to date. If you are a smoker, it is a good time to stop. You need your lung function as good as it can be. If you are exposed to this virus. And then hand washing, careful and thorough hand washing, cough etiquette and trying to stay away from people who are experiencing respiratory symptoms. It is going to be a long haul, but those are all some of the good new habits to get into. The United States and the taliban have signed an historic agreement which could see thousands of american troops withdraw from afghanistan in the next fourteen months. As part of the deal, signed in qatar, the taliban must begin peace talks with the Afghan Government and break with alqaeda. Our chief International Correspondent lyse doucet reports. They fought the worlds mightiest army, but today they sat together. Old enemies shaking hands on a deal. The First Step Towards ending americas longest war. A glimpse of hope that afghanistan can finally move towards peace. But the us top diplomat says that is up to the taliban. First, keep your promises to cut ties with alqaeda and other terrorists. Keep up the fight to defeat isis. Welcome the profound relief of all afghan citizens, men and women, urban and rural, as a result of this past weeks massive reduction in violence, and dedicate yourselves to continued reductions. But for the taliban, today was a victory march. There is no doubt that you won the war. There is no doubt. Otherwise, the Foreign Forces have not come to afghanistan. What would you say to those now who fear the return of the taliban . They should not fear. Because the government which will come after this, will be acceptable to all in afghanistan. Watching from the sidelines in kabul, an Afghan Government shut out of this deal. The taliban refused to talk to it. Today, the nato chief and us defence secretary also sent them a message. They are Still Standing shoulder to shoulder with their afghan allies and their troops wont start leaving until peace talks start. But this is a different country from the dark days of brutal taliban rule. In doha, one deal is done. Making peace will be much harder. History is being made in this moment. This is not a peace deal, but it is a significant step forward and for all the uncertainty and scepticism, afghans know this is their best chance to move towards peace in a very long time. But they worry about a us rush to the exit. Especially in an election year, when President Trump wants to bring his troops home. Lyse doucet, bbc news, doha. I spoke earlier to jarrett blanc. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for international peace, and a former acting special representative for afghanistan and pakistan. I think its the best deal available today, and so in that sense its a win win. Its an opportunity for both sides to move towards a peaceful resolution that addresses the security concerns of all involved. It doesnt end the conflict, but it creates an opportunity to do so. Significant, really, that afghanistan and the government are not yet involved. Talks between afghanistan and the government and the taliban are due to take place . Thats exactly right. So, a large part of the disagreement between the us and the taliban for really a decade about how to negotiate a settlement to this conflict has been about the order of operations. Is there a negotiation between the United States and the taliban first, followed by the taliban and the government of afghanistan . Or, as we long insisted, does the taliban have to start with the government and then turn to us . The major concession that the Trump Administration made here was agreeing to have the us taliban negotiation first and then start the taliban negotiation with other afghans. So thats where we are and its really, probably, the hardest part of this process. What does this mean for the people of afghanistan . You would assume that a reduction in violence can only be a good thing. Certainly the last seven days, the reduction in violence has been met with tremendous excitement and joy in afghanistan. I think people need to be aware that there is not a long term ceasefire in this deal. The reduction in violence lasted seven days. The government of afghanistan and the taliban are now going to begin their negotiations. Part of the agreement between the taliban and the us is that a ceasefire will be an agenda item in those negotiations. My expectation is that there will be quite a bit of violence as the Peace Process proceeds, if the Peace Process proceeds. And if in the next few days, the next seven days or the amount of time this reduction in violence amounts to, if that is a success, what happens next . Well, the reduction in violence was the last seven days. The reward was the signing in doha today. The next phase is for the intra afg han negotiations to begin. March 10 was suggested, it is likely that date will slip. Slipping by a few days or a week would not suggest there is a breakdown in the process. I think both sides will need a bit of time to regroup and make sure they have got their negotiating teams and their agendas set. President erdogan of turkey says he has opened the door for refugees to travel to europe from turkey, as his country could no longer handle new waves of people fleeing syria. The decision has led to a rise in migrants and refugees trying to cross into greece. Greek police have fired teargas at crowds near its border with turkey. Our correspondent orla guerin is in greece on the kastanyes border crossing. Well, Greek Border Police are in position here, with riot shields. Theyve been holding the line, preventing anyone from getting through. Were basically in no mans land here between greece and turkey, and the crowd has been building in the last few hours, from hundreds to more than 1,000. Weve met iranians, afghans, syrians. There are many families here, many people with many young children. There are women with babes in arms. The smell of teargas is still hanging in the air. People have been telling us there has been volley after volley today from the greek side, trying to keep the crowd back. People say they have no water, they have no food. Many slept outside overnight, in the biting cold, exposed to the elements. Weve seen them building fires today to try to keep warm. Now, president erdogan engineered this situation. He wants to create pressure on europe, and the message from the turkish leader is that there could be many more refugees to come. For the past few years, turkey has been sheltering almost 4 million syrians, and thats a huge burden for any economy. But the people here are also being used as leverage. Theyre being used as bargaining chips. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come a headache for the home office one of the uks top Civil Servants resigns accusing the home secretary of bullying. First, the plates slid gently off the restaurant tables. Then suddenly, the tables, the chairs and people crashed sideways and downwards, and it was just a matter of seconds as the ferry lurched onto her side. The hydrogen bomb. On a remote pacific atoll, the americans had successfully tested a weapon whose explosive force dwarfed that of the bomb dropped on hiroshima. I had heard the news earlier, and so my heart went bang, bang, bang the Constitutional Rights of these marchers are their rights as citizens of the United States, and they should be protected even in the right to test them out, so that they dont get their heads broken and are sent to hospital. This religious controversy i know you dont want to say too much about it but does it worry you that its going to boil up when you get to the states . Well, it worries me, yes, but i hope everything will be all right in the end, as they say. This is bbc world news, the latest headlines joe biden secures a much needed win in South Carolinas democratic primary, as Party Members choose their pick to take on trump. As the us records its first death from coronavirus, President Trump tells people theres no need to panic. One of britains most senior Civil Servants, sir philip rutnam, has resigned, after what hes called a vicious and orchestrated campaign against him. He says hes suing the British Government for constructive dismissal. Sir philips resignation comes after persistent reports of a rift between him and the home secretary, priti patel. Our political editor, Laura Kuenssberg reports. Youre not meant to have heard of him. Permanent secretaries are the backroom bosses of the government machine. But this rainy saturday morning became a personal and a public storm for him. In the last ten days, i have been the target of a vicious and orchestrated briefing campaign. It has been alleged that i have briefed the media against the home secretary. This, along with many other claims, is completely false. The home secretary categorically denied any involvement in this campaign to the cabinet office. I regret, i do not believe her. She has not made the effort i would expect to dissociate herself from the comments. Priti patel has made no effort to engage with me to discuss this. I believe that these events give me very strong grounds to claim constructive, unfair dismissal and i will be pursuing that claim in the courts. Priti patel is known as a straight talker, but denied doing anything wrong when whispers about her behaviour made their way to the press in recent days. Reporter are you a workplace bully, home secretary . But there are now demands for an enquiry, with herformer top official taking the government to court and listing the accusations against her in public. I have received allegations that her conduct has included shouting and swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands, behaviour that created fear and needed some bravery to call out. Sir philips time in charge was not without problems. The home office, a notoriously tricky part of government. Youve probably already read a great deal more about Permanent Secretaries in the last few days than you ever expected to. But an exit like this is serious and highly unusual. The Prime Minister has to get a grip on this and not just allow this chaos to continue. You have to have a positive functioning relationship between Civil Servants who work immensely hard to deliver and also ministers who need to show leadership and be held to account. Tensions between ministers and officials are nothing new, but this exit is on a different scale. Theres no sense from number 10 at the moment that there will be consequences for priti patel and they have made no secret of the fact that they want to change things and they are not afraid of ruffling feathers, but there is a difference between decisiveness and dysfunction and ultimately this government, any government, needs the Civil Service to get things done. This has been a very difficult decision. But i hope that my stand may help in maintaining the quality of government in our country. Sir philip, do you think that priti patel is fit for office . He will say no more for now. But for the governments opponents, sir philips decision to go public speaks volumes alone. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news. The slovak Prime Minister, peter pellegrini, has admitted defeat in the countrys parliamentary election. With almost 8 of votes counted, his centre left smer party was trailing the anti corru ption party, olano, led by the veteran campaigner, igor matovic, by about five points. Rob cameron has the latest from bratislava. There are three big takeaways from the shock results in this election here in slovakia. First, the era of the former Prime Minister robert fico and his leftist smer party is over. Theyve never recovered from the killing two years ago of the investigative journalist jan kuciak and his fiancee. Now, the party werent directly implicated in that killing but mr kuciak writing about the kind of corruption that critics say flourished under mr ficos decade in power. Second, the man with all the cards now is igor matovic. Hes an Anti Corruption activist, an mp, a millionaire with a populist touch but hes an unknown quantity and even if he does end up leading a centre right coalition as the next Prime Minister of slovakia, theres no guarantee how long that will last. Previous coalitions of the centre right have founded, even when faced with a common enemy. And finally, this was an emphatic rejection of the far right Peoples Party led by the former neo nazi marian kotleba. This was supposed to be their election but liberal slovaks turned out in droves to reject their manifesto. In fact, they may end up ending with fewer seats, not more. Britain is being battered by more heavy rainfall and strong winds as storm jorge makes its way across the country. Many areas already hit by severe flooding are taking the brunt once again. Olivia richwald reports from east yorkshire. Residents in the village of east cowick were rescued by canoe today as efforts to alleviate flooding in east yorkshire moved into their fifth day. We thought we would wait, because this is totally unprecedented and then, at god knows what time of the morning, bang, bang, bang, we heard, youve got to get out. So, here we are. Residents sandbagged their homes and Environment Agency pumps tried to prevent more homes from being inundated. It has been the wettest february since records began. Pictures filmed on a drone show flooding up to the roof of kevin and catherine lauriemans bungalow in the town of snaith. It has just been heartbreaking. We are going to have to demolish, i think. So, that has gone. We are up to the gutter line, as you have said. And, you know, i cant even explain. Where i am standing is half a mile from the nearest river. This area is called the wash lands and these fields are designed to flood, but this time the sheer amount of water just overwhelmed the man made defences and flooded the town and now, there is nowhere for that water to go. The Environment Agency has more than 100 staff working in the area. Unfortunately, the levels got so high in the wash lands, they have actually over topped some of those barrier bags which is why we have had the flooding here. So, while things have operated as designed, we need to find out exactly why this happened and what we can do in the future. Volunteers in snaith are providing hot meals, tea and coffee and donations of food and clothes. After weeks of flooding across the country and, with more weather warnings in place this weekend, the kindness of communities could well be called on again. 00 25 28,402 2147483051 49 28,916 olivia richwald, 2147483051 49 28,916 4294966103 13 29,430 bbc news, snaith
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