Transcripts For BBCNEWS BBC News 20200308

The Prime Minister meets victims of flooding, announces a doubling in flood defences funding and defends not turning up when bewdely was under water. It is all too easy for a Prime Minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency. It is not so easy for the Emergency Services because what they have to do is then break off. Meghan uses one of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. Value and appreciate the women in your lives, and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way. And scotland cause a big upset in the Six Nations Rugby as they beat france at murrayfield. 2817. More on that and a full sports round up in half an hour here on bbc news. Good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. Its been confirmed that the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the uk has risen to 273. Thats up from 209 yesterday. 23,500 people have been tested for the virus the vast majority have been given the all clear. There have been two deaths. Gps will of course be at the frontline of Healthcare Providers dealing with the spread of this virus. Dr amir khan works at a practice in leeds. He said he wasnt surprised at todays jump in the number of people contracting coronavirus. We are moving on from the containment phase to the delay phase, and it is really important that people adhere to the hygiene measures that the government are putting out there. You mentioned those two phases because we are still in that containment phase now, but clearly it is only a matter of time before we move on. Yes, and i dont think theres much time before you move on and the whole purpose of the delay phase is to stop a massive peak of people being infected all at the same time and overwhelming our nhs services, so we know that people are going to be infected and we know it will be a lot of people but we want that number to climb slowly and that is the purpose of the delay phase, so we are not overwhelmed as Health Professionals ourselves by the demand. Italy has imposed sweeping restrictions on the movement and activities of more than a quarter of its population in areas of the north and east of the country. Some 16 Million People are affected by the virtual lockdown as the government tries to limit the spread of coronavirus. Here, the chancellor has said the government is ready to deliver whatever action is required to deal with your coronavirus crisis. Rishi sunak who delivers his first budget on wednesday said a range of options were being looked at to help businesses survive the impact of employees going sick. 0ur Political Correspondent Jonathan Blake reports. The effects of the coronavirus outbreak are clear to see, a country taking steps to cope, unsure what the ultimate impact will be. And in the midst of the crisis, the chancellor is preparing a budget. The economy is strong, he claims, but there will be measures to ease the impact, and some help for businesses feeling the strain. We are looking very hard at the range of scenarios and making sure that in each of those we can respond appropriately, and that means providing support for public services, and we have already done that with regard to the nhs, making sure we can support vulnerable people, and also making sure we can help businesses get through what could be an impact on their businesses that could be significant but for a temporary period of time. Under new emergency laws drawn up by the government, volunteers will be able to work in the Health Service for up to four weeks without losing theirjobs. Court cases could be held via video link to ensure the Justice System can function, and recently retired Health Workers will be able to return to work without an impact on their pension, moves welcomed by those working in the nhs already under strain. We have been very short staffed in the nhs and in social care in particular for a long time now and so the additional help will be very welcome indeed. Part of the reason it is going to be so helpful is it is going to help us to be able to move people out of hospital who are well but cannot go home because they need additional help at home and that isnt available very easily at the moment in the social care system. There was relief this morning forformer passengers of the diamond princess cruise ship, kept in quarantine after being flown back from japan. We are looking forward to going home, thank you. Its a relief. What has it been like in there . 0k. Its lovely. They have looked after us. Empty shelves have prompted tesco to become the latest supermarket to limit the sales of some products as experts advise there is no need to panic buy. Jonathan blake, bbc news. Italy has imposed sweeping restrictions on the movement and activities of more than a quarter of its population in areas of the north and east of the country. Some 16 Million People are affected by the virtual lockdown as the government tries to limit the spread of coronavirus. The restriction applies to the entire lombardy region, italys wealthiest, and 1a other provinces. All travel not deemed essential is banned. Jon donnison reports. In central milan this morning, an uneasy quiet. A quarter of italys population, some 16 Million People, including those living in the countrys second biggest city, now in quarantine. Translation we are facing an emergency, a national emergency. We have done so from the outset with exceptional precautionary measures, and we are facing it with great awareness, without underestimating the situation. But such a drastic measure is an admission that italy has so far failed to contain the virus, with around 6,000 cases and more than 230 deaths. It is not a complete lockdown. Trains and planes will still run, but many travellers are choosing to stay home and police will be able to restrict peoples movements. Bars and cafes can stay open but must ensure customers can sit a metre apart. Marzio toniolo, a Primary School teacher, has been making a video diary with his family. He has already been in quarantine for several weeks. He says people have to cooperate with the new measures or the problem will get worse, with hospitals already overloaded. Venice, which ordinarily welcomes more than 20 million tourists a year, is also now considered a red zone. Rome is not part of the quarantine area, but this morning pope francis gave his weekly address by video link rather than from the traditional balcony overlooking worshippers in st peters square. And all top flight football matches across the country will be played behind closed doors until at least april, but as the number of cases continues to rise rapidly, the question some are asking is this all being done too late . Jon donnison, bbc news. The number who have died in lombardy has risen from 154 to 257. Lombardy has risen from 154 to 257. Lombardy has had the most cases of the virus. Airlines have suspended flights and strict controls are in place. Gems, night clubs, museums and schools are closed. Karenjelfs smith is on holiday in rome with her son and is due to fly home this evening. We can speak to her now. Thank you for coming on the line. I dont suppose this is the holiday you had in mind. Actually, the whole thing has been brilliant apart from today when we turned up at the coliseum to find out we could not go inside. Up until then given realise anything was wrong. And what was the scene at the coliseum . Were there signs . No, it was quite confusing. We had pre booked to have a tour and they said there might be a problem and have another later they said it is shut, you will have to get your money back from the tour operator, which i have already got back. We went to the coliseum because we wa nted went to the coliseum because we wanted to convince ourselves that was shut and there were tonnes of people waiting around and it took about two hours for a st to go up which was when we realised. But considering the amount of people congregating outside i think they we re congregating outside i think they were probably at more of a risk than being inside an open air monument. Prior to today, give us the sense of the mood in rome. You are there with your son. It has been brilliant. It isa your son. It has been brilliant. It is a beautiful city. Everyone has been very happy and people have been out and about and very few face masks. You will see people sanitising their hands but apart from that and things being shut, it just meant in and everybody went to the streets and there was quite a nice atmosphere. Much talk from people about what is going further north . We are a bit cut off to be fair. We have just north . We are a bit cut off to be fair. We havejust been north . We are a bit cut off to be fair. We have just been looking north . We are a bit cut off to be fair. We havejust been looking on the internet and seeing the chaos of people running for trains in milan but it doesnt seem to have affected the south. It is purely the fact that things are shut. We were lucky. We went to the vatican yesterday. What about getting home . No suggestion of any problems as far as flights are concerned . Suggestion of any problems as far as flights are concerned . No. At the moment ourflight flights are concerned . No. At the moment our flight is showing on the board. Lets hope it stays that way. I will not detain you any more. I am glad you have had a successful holiday. I just glad you have had a successful holiday. Ijust feel sorry glad you have had a successful holiday. I just feel sorry for the italian people. They are lovely people and very welcoming and it seems very unfair and they are coping better than the people at home hoarding things. Some are, that is true. Very good to talk to go. I am just looking at some sporting information. This concerns wolverhampton wanderers. The first leg of the Europa League last 16 tie on thursday will be held behind closed doors due to the outbreak. This is an announcement from the greek government this afternoon. The ministry of Health Representative said starting tomorrow all professional Sports Events for the next two weeks will be played without spectators and that will affect basketball, handball and water polo as well as that particular Europa League game between allen pr course and wolves. For a second consecutive day in china there have been fewer than 100 new cases of coronavirus in the whole country. The Health Authorities are reporting 44 new suspected cases in the past 24 hours. And there have been a further 27 deaths all of them concentrated in hubei province, where the outbreak began. A little earlier we spoke to dr claire standley, an assistant Research Professor at Georgetown University who specialises in the public response to infectious disease. She says it is encouraging that there has been a fall in the number of new cases in china. Any decrease in cases is an encouraging sign. We are hopefully seeing some of the impact of those measures. There is a time lag. There isa measures. There is a time lag. There is a relatively long incubation period and it is to tell it we have seen period and it is to tell it we have seen the back of it. What we are seeing is some of the countries that had the worst impact from sars seem to be coping better, particularly with respect to the testing and management of contacts, treating the patients and seeing who they come into co nta ct patients and seeing who they come into contact with. It shows that experience unprepa redness into contact with. It shows that experience unpreparedness can improve a countrys response. And preparedness. Well heres my colleague, jane hill, with a reminder of some Important Information about the virus. This is what we all need to know about reducing our risk of catching coronavirus. Wash your hands regularly. Rub the palm and back of your hands in between the fingers and not forgetting the thumbs. It should take 20 seconds long enough to sing happy birthday twice. Avoid touching yourface with unwashed hands because this can spread disease. The first symptoms of coronavirus are a fever and a cough and you may experience shortness of breath. If you have a cough or high temperature, that does not necessarily mean you have coronavirus but if you think you might, dont go to hospital or your gp. Stay at home and call nhs111, or use their online service. They will be able to tell you what to do next. You can keep up to date with the latest developments about the coronavirus outbreak, how to guard against it, and what it means for you, on the bbc news app and on our website. The headlines on bbc news 273 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus thats up from 209 yesterday, according to latest figures. 16 Million People in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. The Prime Minister has received a mixed reaction during a visit to flood hit bewdley in worcestershire, where he announced a doubling of funding for flood defences. Borisjohnson has been visiting the flood affected town of bewdley in worcestershire this afternoon. The area was one of the worst affected by last months flooding after defences buckled, forcing many residents to be evacuated from their homes. The visit comes as the treasury revealed that funding for flood defences in england will be doubled to £52 billion over five years in wednesdays budget. Well, speaking a little earlier the Prime Minister responded to accusations that his visit had come too late for those affceted by the flooding. It is all too easy for a Prime Minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency. It is not so easy for the Emergency Services because what they have to do is then break off. The goal command has to find somewhere to brief news and everybody has to gather and they are diverted from their work for hours and hours. What i have been doing since the flooding began is coordinating the National Response and looking at what we can do in the next months and years to ensure this country is ready to cope with the impacts of flooding, and there are very beautiful and interesting things you can do that will generate jobs for the long term and make the landscape more beautiful. We can change the way we Fund Agriculture for instance, change the way we support farmers, to encourage them to plant more trees, to the ten flood defences, to manage the water upstream, and all of that we will be able to look at. When these barriers came when people were reassured their houses would be safe and they have failed because of the height of the water. What reassurances can you get them . They want to know despite the money these. Their houses flooding. You are absolutely right. The problem with these barriers is that they were overtop. They are great picks of kate but when you have a big flood like that they are not going to be effective. The thing we have to look at is the rules which currently say that you cannot pretend permanent defences when you only have a small number of households potentially affected, and so households potentially affected, and so the case we need to make as it is not just the number of so the case we need to make as it is notjust the number of households, it is also the economic damage the damage to confidence and all the rest of that in the town. That is where working with the Environment Agency we want to make progress. Today is International Womens day, a worldwide event which celebrates womens achievements while also calling for gender equality. This years theme is each for equal which aims to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and broaden perceptions. The bbcs Charlotte Gallagher is at whitehall and has more now on how the day is being in marked here in london. Thousands of people are at Parliament Square today to march for gender equality around the world. This year feminists have teamed up with Climate Change activists because organisers say they want women and girls to have more say in the plans to tackle Global Warming in Different Countries across the world. They say at the moment that just isnt happening. There are lots of celebrities here today as you would expect, bianca jagger, the game of thrones Actress Natalie dormer, ricky wilson from the Kaiser Chiefs and George Mackay from 1917. Also people from across the uk that have come down here. I spoke to a family from ireland and they have made the journey over because they wanted to show their two young daughters the feeling that you get at these events and they have made signs saying the future is female, so there is a real strong feeling here that there is still a lot to be done. I was speaking to helen pankhurst, of course the great granddaughter and granddaughter of two key leaders in the suffragette movement. She says she thought her ancestors would say, yes there is a lot to celebrate, but isnt there still more to be done especially Political Representation of women around the world . There have been events across the world. We have seen some where there have been abuse of women, in kurdistan today, dozens of women were arrested when their march was attacked by men, so still a lot to be done in different parts of the world and in the uk. That is what organisers are saying. Across pakistan, hundreds of women have been taking part in rallies marking International Womens day. Islamist politicians had threatened to stop the marches taking place accusing the organisers of promoting anti islamic slogans. Whilst the day passed off largely peacefully in islamabad supporters of a hardline group threw stones at those attending a rally in the city. Secunder kermani reports. This is the third year that the aurat womens march is taking place in pakistan and it is increasingly becoming a symbol for the cultural divides within society here. Pakistan is overall a deeply conservative and patriarchal country and the women here are talking about issues such as so called honour killings, sexual harassment, a lack of public space for women, but they face a lot of opposition, particularly from right wing religious groups who have threatened to stop the marches, even at times hinting at using force to do so. They have been particularly enraged by the use of one phrase in urdu, its mera jism meri marzi. It means in english, my body, my choice. It is a fairly common feminist slogan referencing reproductive rights, but for the critics of this march they see it as having some kind of subversive sexualised connotation. Those religious groups have been holding their own demonstrations today. 0ne just across the street, and as the crowds were leaving some of them it seems began throwing sticks and stones at those taking part in this rally. It is a sign of how heated debate over this day has become. The government is promising money to help struggling high streets in order to help reduce regional inequalities. Retailers say Business Rates are one of their biggest problems especially whats called transitional relief this slows down the speed with which their rates bills go up and down. They say its cost the sector hundreds of millions of pounds. Emma simpson reports from blackpool. This is one of the best retail streets in blackpool and this unit is one of the best units in the street. Ten or 15 years ago we would have been fighting the retailers off, the demand would have been strong. No longer. This used to be a topshop, but it has just handed back the keys. Now, paul morans company is struggling to find somebody to fill the gap because the Business Rates bill is too big. The rates bill on this shop is dramatically higher than its rental value. It is the first thing they will look it, it is the first question they will ask, what is the rate bill . And it is deterring tenants from taking this unit. This town is feeling the impact of the huge upheaval in retail, driven by the rise in online shopping. The market is changing fast, but Business Rates are not keeping up. Business rates are a tax based on how much a property is worth in rent. Now, if rents fall, so should rates. If they go up, so will the rates bill. It sounds reasonable, but changes to rates are gradually phased in to help businesses adjust. Too gradually, though, for towns like this one where bills are not coming down fast enough. Thats the problem. Take this Poundland Store round the corner. Rents fell dramatically in 2017 when the government last revalued property. Its rates bill should have gone down by 46 , but, by the end of next year, it will only have dropped in real terms by 13 . This one shop is effectively paying £167,000 in extra tax through the system known as transitional relief. I call it comic relief, in fairness. We are a business that is thriving, but transitional relief costs us millions of pounds. The boss of poundland says it needs to be scrapped. I could open more shops, i could employ more colleagues, i could create better products for existing customers. Itjust holds the business back from investing and driving growth. The government is promising a fundamental review of Business Rates and is halving them for small shops at the budget. But that will not be much help to the big chains which are trying to steer through Turbulent Times in the towns in need of the most support. Emma simpson, bbc news, blackpool. The duchess of sussex has used one of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. She was speaking during a surprise visit to a school in east london on friday. The details have been today to mark International Womens day. Last night, meghan appeared with her husband prince harry at an event in london. 0ur royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell reports. Take a good look because we wont be seeing much more of this for a while. The duke and duchess of sussex, last night, at the royal albert hall, still introduced as their royal highnesses and still very much looking the part. Harry was making a final appearance as captain general of the Royal Marines complete with gold braid, medals and honours. For her part, meghan is leaving formal royal life with a strong endorsement of a cause about which she feels deeply the rights of women. A couple of days ago, she visited a school in dagenham to make a speech timed for International Womens day today. These were issues she said which were relevant every day and to every person, and she had a particular message for men. Ijust encourage and empower each of you to really stand in your truth to stand for what is right to continue to respect each other for you young men to continue to value and appreciate the women in your lives and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way, right . You have your mothers, sisters, girlfriends, friends in your life protect them make sure they are feeling valued and safe. The speech went down well the speaker was appreciated. She really is beautiful, innit . Tomorrow, harry and meghan will make their final appearance for now with the queen at westminster abbey. After that, the great experiment of their new supposedly non royal life will begin in canada. Nicholas witchell, bbc news. Sandy has been a brighter day than what we had on saturday with more sunshine and a scattering of showers. Showers will continue this evening into the first part of the night and they will tend to continue across Western Areas but become few and far between further east. There will be lighter winds, clear skies, and a colder night with a touch of frost in sheltered plains of eastern scotland. The next weather system making inroads during monday. With the start of dry and bright with some sunshine and rather chilly and thenit some sunshine and rather chilly and then it turns wet and windy for Northern Ireland and western scotland, western england and wales through the afternoon. Easton area staying dry and bright until the rain arise after dark. Some of the rain arise after dark. Some of the rain will be quite heavy as it splashes eastwards, piling up across parts of wales and Northern England. Into tuesday, further cloud and rain, very mild in the south and cool in the sunshine and showers from wednesday onwards. Hello, this is bbc news, with julian worricker. The headlines 273 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus thats up from 209 yesterday, according to the latest figures. 16 Million People in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. The official death toll from italys worst affected region of lombardy hasjumped worst affected region of lombardy has jumped by more than 101 worst affected region of lombardy hasjumped by more than 101 day worst affected region of lombardy has jumped by more than 101 day and 110w has jumped by more than 101 day and now stands at 257. China reports its lowest number of new infections in a single day, since january. Here, new emergency laws including court cases over video link or phone to help tackle the virus are announced. There we go the Prime Minister meets victims of flooding, announces a doubling in flood defences funding, and defends not turning up when bewdley was under water. Its all too easy for a Prime Minister to come to a place in the middle of an emergency. Its not so easy, frankly, for the Emergency Services, because what they have to do is then break off. Meghan uses one of her last appearances as a senior royal to urge men to do more to respect women. Value and appreciate the women in your lives, and also set the example for some men who are not seeing it that same way. Sport, and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, heres Lizzie Greenwood hughes. It is it is katy. A dramatic afternoon in murrayfield in the rugby, england moved to the top of the six nations table thanks to scotland beating france by 28 17. France prop Mohammed Haouas was sent off for punching a man, the man of the match jason ritchie. Scotland went ahead from the resulting penalty. And then scoring tries either side of the interval, Anthony Martial and Stuart Mcinally put the game beyond france with quarter of an hour to go. Scotland up to third and ireland against italy was postponed because of the coronavirus. Two games in the premier league today, the Manchester Derby is under way at old trafford. Manchester united is a 1 0 up over manchester city. Anthony martial with the goal. In the early kick off, chelsea thumped everton 4 0, ruining the return of Carlo Ancelotti to his former side, as we report. When you are reunited with an old friend, sometimes a handshake just wont do. First return to Stamford Bridge for colour mentality nearly nine years on from being sacked by chelsea. Frank lampard on from being sacked by chelsea. Frank lampa rd played on from being sacked by chelsea. Frank lampard played a key role then, now they have a new star. Billy gilmour was nine when ancelotti was asked in town, now he was making his First Premier League start. Playing for a team and control in cejka. Mason mount was already denied once. When his next chance arrived, he wouldnt be denied again. Chelseas from has been a consistent of late, but back to back wins were beckoning when pedro made it to have a zero before half time, and the 50 minute break did little to regenerate everton. They picked up where they left off, much to do their delight of their manager. His side rampant and ruthless. Evertons defensive resolve nonexistent. Chelseas Biggest League win of the season, they are now two points off third and 41, this is a reunion to forget. 18 year old Billy Gilmour is once again in the headlines after another impressive performance. And receiving plenty of praise from chelsea manager frank lampard. The minute he started training with us, he was clear that he can play at this level and train. I was had the feeling the minute you put him in, he is just feeling the minute you put him in, he isjust going feeling the minute you put him in, he is just going to get better very quickly because of his quality and game intelligence and work ethic and he will put his foot in. And today was another example of that after liverpool. So two really good games. We we re liverpool. So two really good games. We were not good enough for this game. It is a little bit strange because we played well against manchester united. We compete against arsenal. We compete arsenal compete also against manchester city. It is really strange, but we have, as i said, to analyse this and try to do better, of course. Rangers have ended their recent run of poor form with a 1 0 win at ross county. Before today, Steven Gerrards side had gone three domestic games without a win. This deflected late winner and then the victory and moved them to within 13 points of leaders celtic with a game in hand. England will look to get there shebelieves cup campaign back on track later when they take on japan in using dirty in newjersey. They lost usa in their opening match and have them echojust they lost usa in their opening match and have them echo just two of their last nine matches. We dont feel the pressure. The only expectation we do haveis pressure. The only expectation we do have is from the expectation from within that we want the performances to be better, we want the results to be better. I think results can influence people and i think today, the objective is to perform well. If we perform and get some consistency from the performances we did the other day against the usa and pay back the 90 minutes, i am confident we will get the right result. The first half of that game is live on bbc two and coverage begins at ten to six with kick off at 6 15pm. Coverage switches to bbc four, for the second half. A memorable day for australia after being crowned champions with the womens t20 world cup. They beat india by 85 runs to secure their fifth t20 world cup, in front of a home crowd of over 86,000. We were watching in melbourne. An explosion of green and gold. Australia lifting the trophy for a record fifth time. With the capacity of over 100,000, organisers wanted to fill the mcg to mark International Womens day and they came close. As fans thronged the stadium for the sport, as well as the pre match entertainment from katy perry and her dancing cricket bats. From the first bowl, australia brought the fireworks. Alyssa healy with a rocket to kick proceedings off. India route this opportunity to get her out early on and she smashed her way to 75. Beth mooney matched and surpassed that score as australia drone to a massive 184 off their overs. India needed a big response which was a big responsibility for 16 year olds opener verma who faulted. Healy at the heart of the success. Capitulation from their is wicket after wicket fell. India all out with less than 100 and australia the victors. It will be huge party in melbourne this evening, many of the australian fans are still inside the stadium celebrating lettings in pensive victory and they are waiting foran pensive victory and they are waiting for an encore katy perry. Celebrating their sides victory. Historic night for australian cricket and a great celebration of womens sport and International Womens day. Plenty of questions about a number of sporting events because of the coronavirus and the bahrain grand prix will be the first ever formula 1 race to be staged without spectators. They say they know how disappointed many fans will be, but safety is their priority. This is oui safety is their priority. This is our formula 1 reporter. News overnight that the Bahrain International circuit have announced no spectators allowed at their grand prix happening in two weeks time. This will be the first time a grand prix race has been held behind closed doors. And whilst teams and drivers and personnel and media and all the Logistics Staff will be there, it will be a very different feel to the bahrain grand prix. This isa feel to the bahrain grand prix. This is a direct result of coronavirus and bahrain have been very quick to treat and find and isolate cases and they want to continue a very proactive stance. The f1 paddock is getting ready to go to australia, many of the teams and the garages are already set up at the albert park circuit. It is very much a watching brief. The new regulations coming in through italy make it quite difficult for the likes of pirelli and ferrari to adjust how they will move forward if they are not allowed to go in and out of the area where they are based. But for the time being, it is business as usual in formula 1, even if some events may have to look to follow the leader of bahrain and do it behind closed doors. The virus has also affected upcoming tennis tournaments. Players will be asked not to hand out used towels and sweatbands to the fans, while they are also not allowed to accept pens 01 are also not allowed to accept pens or tennis balls to sign at the upcoming atp and wta events. Starting at next weeks tournament in india wells. Bristol made history by winning theirfifth in india wells. Bristol made history by winning their fifth straight premier sick match, beating ha rlequins premier sick match, beating harlequins by 28 15. Two tries from nick moran and 13 points and the bears victory at ashton gate. Bristol move up to third in the table. Lt are facing an uphill title to defend his title due to of lameness, according to nicky henderson. He would be the first was with 35 years to when the champion chase in 35 yea rs, to when the champion chase in 35 years, but has suffered his first defeat and return to win at newbury last month. And on International Womens day, bryony frost wins both jumps races at southwell, on the historic all female race card, featuring both jumps and flat racing. Frost won on silent steps and clare du guy. As horse racing as a rest but in which women regularly compete against men at the top level, their numbers are growing and wins by female riders in British Racing increased by 76 between 2015 and 2019, according to the latest industry figures. Among them is the teenage jockey who won her first race at glorious goodwood last year. We have been to meet her. When she became the first british muslim woman to ride on a racehorse last year at glorious goodwood, she didntjust year at glorious goodwood, she didnt just take part, year at glorious goodwood, she didntjust take part, she won. 19 year old has been at ebony horse clu b 19 year old has been at Ebony Horse Club in brixton since she was 12, but prior to goodwood, she had not even sat on a racehorse. The reaction was really, really great and more positive than i thought. I thought there would be a new native backlash comments and it has been mostly positive. It has made me more ambitious to try out new things. Since khadijah when liquid magnolia cup, a lot has changed here and with the other riders and khadijah herself. Even though i won, there is so herself. Even though i won, there is so much i need to learn and in comparison to so many otherjockeys, iam comparison to so many otherjockeys, i am nowhere near the level so i am trying to better my riding. Ebony horse club is tucked away in the middle of brixton, just around the corner from peckham where middle of brixton, just around the cornerfrom peckham where khadijah grew up. Other riders seen khadijah, many of them have seen her right here and they have ridden with her and been on trips with her, and they know she is a really important part of the club so the fact they have seen of the club so the fact they have seen hergo on of the club so the fact they have seen her go on to win a race and really start forging a career, it is amazing for them. She really start forging a career, it is amazing forthem. She is really start forging a career, it is amazing for them. She is from the same part of london as them and she has gone through all the same challenges they are going through now so challenges they are going through now so having that connection to someone now so having that connection to someone who has succeeded, itjust shows then they can do it as well. These two have been riding at ebony since the age of nine and it was the winner of khadijah that inspired them both to think about getting into racing. We were all crying and screaming and we all were really happy. It proves that anybody can do it. Horse riding is a sport that anyone can do. Before, i thought you have to own your own horses and be really rich and have your own stuff. Now i realise i can do it. Khadijah is now an ambassador for great British Racing and she is part of theirjustjockeys campaign, celebrating the ship is my International Womens day by highlighting the need to drop the term female jockeys. My achievement was picking up racing in such a short amount of time because it was really challenging for me and some people didnt really understand the journey behind it, theyjust saw, she only has attention because she is wearing the hijab and that wasnt the case for me. It is nothing to do with background or how you are raised, it is just down to your skill and just bought and the amount of time and effort you put into training andi of time and effort you put into training and i think that is a great feature to racing and your sport. I want people to see me as just a jockey. Such an inspiring story. That is all the sport, plenty more on the bbc sport website. Bye bye for now. This week marks three months since the world first heard about a newly identified disease. I am of course talking about tehran, which is caused by a new type of coronavirus. To date, there have been over 3,000 deaths from nearly 100,000 confirmed cases in 81 countries. And this is how i know that. This is thejohn Hopkins University tehran and since it went live injanuary, it has gone viral in a good way. By demystifying the states and the numbers behind the spread of the disease. Since it went live injanuary, it has gone viral and in a good way by demystifying the stats and the numbers behind the spread of this disease. It is amalgamating data from many of the Worlds Health agencies and so for example right now i can see the total number of confirmed cases is just over 93,000, these are the countries where they have confirmed cases and, just as importantly i think, this is the total number of people who have already recovered completely from the disease. And this is just one of the pop up projects that have appeared online, aiming to demystify the glut of covid 19 data. Community powered site next strain drops the genome data shared by scientists around the world. As covid 19 is transmitted from person to person, it can change its genetic make up in subtle ways, allowing researchers to build a family tree. To see how the disease has spread. Its enuinely fascinating stuff. In a health crisis, particularly one that is growing rapidly like the coronavirus outbreak, we really need to communicate with people about what they can do individually and collectively to try and help get this under control. But also, its important that individuals understand that if they make minor, relatively mundane changes to their behaviour, they can help us to slow the spread of this down. In 2018, the bbc ran its own experiments to simulate the spread of a flu like disease using a network of virtually infected smartphones. For me, the show did a brilliantjob of revealing how simple things like washing our hands can make a massive difference to how quickly and how far a disease spreads. 0n the right is what happens if we all wash our hands really well. 0n the left is what happens if we dont. Just look at how the spread is slowed if we follow the advice of washing our hands well and often. Posts like this are everywhere on social media, recommending good handwashing techniques and other scientifically grounded tips to try and limit the spread of germs. But theyre not the only things you might find if you look online for coronavirus information. Over the past few months, social Media Companies have been waging their own war against a different kind of pathogen. Dubbed an infodemic by the world health organisation, social networks have been deluged with information about the coronavirus. Some of this is correct and helpful, but a lot of it is misleading, half true or completely fake. And that is making the real information and advice much harder to find. Looking through tiktok now, and it looks like any search for coronavirus, or a similar term, now brings up this banner at the top and these videos from well known organisations take up the top spots. Similarly, dubious recommendations seem to have gone. Coronavirus conspiracy used be one of the suggested search tags. Its not any more. On facebook, its a similar story, with posts from well known and trusted organisations taking up the top spots. So, some of the kinds of misinformation that does travel around would be first of all not believing that there is a problem at all. And that this is a creation, in order to try and control people. That has been seen before. And is being seen now. Also, people come up with ideas of cures, whether its drinking garlic water or whatever, that suggest something will happen or that there is a cure out there that is being withheld. That is the circulating rumour at the moment. And you have to counter that because if you do not, people will not take action in the way that you want them to. So, its really important that we get the true messaging out there and the science underpinning it, and thats what were trying to do. And if youre really interested in educating yourself on the Science Behind covid 19, professor ward has a free online course that should really protect you from the fake facts. So, thats where we are now. But in this emerging age of Artificial Intelligence, were starting to get glimpses of how that Technology May help us in fighting outbreaks like this. And lara has been investigating. This coronavirus seems to have shaken up life as we know it. Inevitably, its going to continue to spread. But how far, and fast, thats going to happen, and what were going to do about it, are still in question. So, could Artificial Intelligence play a vital part in providing some answers and maybe even improving the outcome . Ai had an Important Role in the initial understanding of this outbreak. Canadian specialist blue dot deals with global epidemic intelligence and identified very early on that something was amiss, through a combination of medical and airline data. We were one of the first groups in the world that identified this outbreak. This was back, actually, on new years eve day, the morning of december 31st. The Machine Learning algorithms that weve developed had picked up information in chinese of a pneumonia, it wasnt known to be a coronavirus, of unknown cause, centred around this market in wuhan. When it was presented to our team, we recognised that there were parallels to the sars outbreak 17 years earlier, so we knew immediately that there were some historic parallels here and that this outbreak really warranted our attention. And this is where the human scientists were needed. Ai can alert, but cant yet do the investigations to say whats really occurring. Detecting an outbreak is really just the first step. There are multiple other things that need to happen. Ultimately, we need to determine what kinds of risk does this pose, is it likely to spread . If its going to spread, where might it go . What kind of consequences might occur from that spread . And then ultimately, we have to get that information into the hands of people who can then be empowered with that information to take the appropriate actions. Its not just about tracking, though. The dream is that one day, ai might be able to conjure up necessary vaccines on the spot. 0r repurpose drugs, to deal with new challenges. The latter being something benevolent ai in london is already leading the way on. This company uses alto better understand the mechanism of disease. Correlating data on illnesses, drugs and outcomes, and providing more information than any human being could ever come up with. And in this case, a potential lead. What are we looking at here . This is a demonstration of our algorithm processing documents in real time, reading the abstracts of scientific publications to do with coronavirus and extracting relationships between key biological concepts that we really care about to carry out drug discovery. And at this point, were just a few months into an outbreak that could really, really grow. How meaningful do you think this data is so far . Theres a huge amount of information being published. Were notjust pulling out coronavirus information, but were merging it with a lot of existing publications on underlying biology. 0ur algorithms reads over biology at multiple layers from the nano world of proteins interacting on ourselves, through this maze of biological processes, up to human defined definitions of diseases. Its very early days for the process, but it is suggesting what might be worth further investigation. Now, a lot of people are looking at virals, antivirals, and how they might potentially treat the disease. We looked at it from a completely different way. We said, what are the other types of approved drugs that might inhibit the progression of that disease in the body . So, we surfaced a number of drugs, and then we did some experimentation based on that and further research. And then we came up with this one drug that we think is best suited. It has both anti inflammatory properties, as well as the ability to stop whats called endocytosis, which is what enables the virus to enter the lungs, which is the most potentially dangerous outcome of the coronavirus. The company stresses this is only conjecture. And although the drug in question is approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, Clinical Trials and full Scientific Evidence would be needed before it could even come close to being used for this purpose. What were trying to do is use this technology in the service of science to further the development of novel treatments for diseases that currently have no treatment. Like, right now in the world, theres over 9,000 diseases that have no treatment. Well, ai will play a greater role than it has already because whats being done is genetic sequences are being taken and that is the understanding of the organism itself, and this is put into databases that can then determine where a virus came from and what it might be going in the future. Of course ai hasnt solved the covid 19 crisis, but it has hopefully helped to some extent and should be learning from it, to be even more helpful in any future disease outbreaks. That is it for this week. The full length version is waiting for you right now and i play and we are waiting for you and your social media platform of choice. We live on youtube and instagram, facebook and twitter. Thanks for watching and we will see you soon. Hello. Part two of the weekend has been a brighter day than what we had yesterday. Quite a bit of sunshine through the afternoon, but lots of showers, all enhanced by these weather fronts pushing in from the west. Quite a few isobars on the charts throughout the day, so its been blustery, particularly over hills, round coasts and where the showers have been moving in. Most showers this evening will be over more Western Areas. Perhaps wintry over higher ground. 0vernight, the activity tends to ease down. Many central and eastern parts will turn drier with lengthy clear skies. Turning cooler than last night. Some frost in sheltered glens over eastern scotland. Monday morning starts off with quite a bit of sunshine around. Quite a chilly start, but at least bright. Any showers clearing away. In the west, low pressure will bring wet and windy weather to many parts. Further east, tends to stay dry, with some brightness around. The rain will arrive here after dark. Temperatures range from seven to 10 degrees. It will be wet and windy on monday. Windy conditions and the rain keeps on coming for Northern England and wales. Rainfall totals really starting to mount up by the time we reach tuesday morning. Turning milder again as we end the night. Into tuesday, lots of isobars on the chart, lots of weather fronts as well, so there will be further pulses of rain or longer spells of rain at times. We are drawing up mild airfrom the azores. Feeling very mild indeed across the south. A lot of cloud around to start the day on tuesday. Into the afternoon, it should start to turn brighter. A windy day, probably more windy on tuesday than on monday. Gales around irish sea coasts. We could see 16 or 17 degrees across south east or eastern parts of england, so very mild indeed. Beyond tuesday, it looks like it will turn cooler for all, with a mixture of sunshine and blustery showers. These will be wintry over the hills in the north. See you later. This is bbc news. The headlines 273 people in the uk have tested positive for coronavirus thats up from 209 yesterday according to latest figures. 16 Million People in northern italy are placed in quarantine for a month because of the virus. The official death toll in italys worst affected area jumps 100 and stands at 257. Here, new emergency laws including court cases over video link or phone to help tackle the virus are announced