Transcripts For BBCNEWS Outside Source 20200210

On sunday, 97 people in china died from the coronavirus. Thats the highest number in a single day since the crisis began. In a single day since the death toll is now over 900. In a single day since across china, more than 40,000 people are infected, and over 180,000 are under medical observation. The only better news is that the number of newly infected People Per Day has stabilised. Heres president xi at a prevention and control centre in beijing. Hes having his temperature checked like many people have done. The president says hes working to prevent large scale job losses because of the virus. But that looks harder to avoid as each day goes by. For more on how the government has been reacting to this crisis heres kerry allen from bbc monitoring. This was just really striking footage in general anyway, given that we were talking about this coronavirus back injanuary. It was very apparent that he was very much not in the public eye and very publicly, he appointed his deputy to be the kind of face of having the coronavirus, and he visited wuhan, visited various hospitals, but people havent really seen him. Even on newspapers, the big official newspaper, youd expect to see him every day on the front cover. Very much since the virus started becoming the story, hes not been anywhere and there has been speculation hes not been in the public eye because people are criticising him so theres this footage of him today being very friendly to people, talking to locals, wishing people well, its the first time weve seen him being open and talking about the virus. The virus was first detected in the city of wuhan and its been in lockdown for weeks. This graph from Chinas Health commission shows how the number of daily deaths in china has been growing, and this shows how the virus has spread across china. The darker the areas, the higher the number of cases. And while this has played out, Chinese Workers were meant to return to work after the Lunar New Year break, that break beyond the end of january. Its finished now but things are a long way from normal. Heres robin brant. Were here in shanghai, the commercial capital, usually home to 2a million people. It was supposed to be the first day back, but i have to say, it was a trickle. The banks remain closed, the shops remain closed, theres a small number of people out there, but there are clearly a lot of anxieties among the People Living here in shanghai and the numbers of those coming back are almost certainly going to be staggered as well. The bbcs Stephen Mcdonell has just finished a two week quarantine period after reporting from hubei. Hes shared these pictures of deserted streets in beijing. Many factories and offices remain closed. For more on what the governments been saying to people as they head back to work, heres kerry allen again from bbc monitoring. Evenif even if people are going to work they need to distance themselves and bea they need to distance themselves and be a least a metre apart, not commute to amend their commute together. Children havent returned together. Children havent returned to schools yet so a lot of parents for example cant get to work because they need childcare and childcare centres are close as well. Pa rents a re childcare centres are close as well. Parents are very much companies are being sympathetic and recognising until this virus dies down, its better for recognising until this virus dies down, its betterfor people recognising until this virus dies down, its better for people to stay at home rather than businesses going back to work. Are we already at a stage where we can say those losses are beginning . I think theres a bit of leeway because of this virus. Yes there arejobs of leeway because of this virus. Yes there are jobs that people are nervous, and they re there are jobs that people are nervous, and theyre trying to get back to work but at the same time, there have been people who have, if theyre trying to race back or trying to do things like this and put others at risk, they do risk short print sentences for about ten to 15 days. Prison sentences. The suit people are thinking for the greater good, stay at home and just type this out. Weve also heard from world health organisation. It says the fatality rate for the virus is about 2 and has expressed concern about how it is spreading outside of china. Heres its director general in geneva. In recent days, we have seen some concerning instances of onward transmission from people with no travel hito china, with no travel histry to china, like the cases reported in france yesterday and the United Kingdom today. The detection of the small number of cases could be a spark that becomes a biggerfire. The uk government has introduced new measures in england that mean those in quarantine can be forcibly sent into isolation if they pose a threat, and cannot leave without permission. The press association is reporting that this step was taken after someone threatened to asbcond from one of the two quarantine centres currently being operated. There are cases in 2a countries now, eight in the uk, four of which are connect to a british businessman. He contracted the virus at a conference in singapore. The man then flew to a ski resort in france. There the virus spread to five people who remain in france. He then returned to brighton and is currently being treated in isolation at a hospital in london. This doctors surgery in brighton has also been temporarily closed after one of its staff has tested positive for the virus. That has led to use of the phrase superspreader thats when one patient infects significant numbers of people. Its important to stress that its not the patients fault as people showing no symptons can inadvertently spread the virus. This study from the lancet revealed that in 2003, the coronavirus known as mers, included a super spreading event that led to more than 80 people being infected by one person. For more on how this latest virus is spreading, heres michelle roberts. It appears that some people may be able to pass the virus more readily than others. We dont know why, so experts so far had thought possibly somebody whos infected might pass it to two or three other people. In this most recent example, it seems to be more than that, so hence the term superspreader, but its not down to the individual. Its just how the virus behaves in different people, so its very much were learning how this virus, you know, is different for different people. A huge political moment in ireland. Sinn fein won the popular vote in the weekends general election. To put this in perspective, Lewis Goodall first time a left of centre party has won an irish election. First either fianna fail or fine gail hasnt come first for virtually the entire hi of the irish state. heres sinn feins leader. This isnt whats called a protest vote and anybody who makes that claim has missed the entire point of this election. This election has been a drawing of a line in the sand. Its been a very clear message to the political establishment that that their days of domination are over. People want different politics, new politics, and better government, a new government, and i believe sinn fein will be the core of that. In the first preference vote, 25 of voters chose sinn fein. That put it ahead of the two parties that normally dominate. Fianna fail took 22 , snd Leo Varadkars party fine gail took 21 . But despite all that, sinn fein is unlikely to become the Largest Party in the irish parliament. And its because just how much of a surprise this is. Chris page explains. Even its own strategy is dont expect that level of success. So whats happened here . Well, the current taosich leo varadkar sought to frame the election around his work on brexit. Remember this meeting between him and borisjohnson was crucial to the last minute deal that was done. Sinn fein though focused its campaing on the nationwide housing crisis and ending austerity. According to one exit poll, these issues mattered the most especially to young voters. 0nly1 of respondents said brexit was a factor. The same poll found that sinn fein was the most Popular Party among every age group up to 65, thats particularly important as ireland has the youngest population of the whole of the eu. Now one issue is always central to sinn fein, thats irish unity. It wants a referendum on whether the republic of ireland and Northern Ireland should be united, and it wants on within 5 years. Bear in mind, during the conflict in Northern Ireland, sinn fein was regarded as the political wing of the main republican paramilitary group, the ira, which fought for a united ireland. Sinn fein always emphasises its role in the peace process, but during the campaign both of the other two main parties focused on its links with the ira, they argued this made sinn fein unsuitable to be a party in power, and said they wouldnt consider a coalition with sinn fein. And for the moment, Leo Varadkars not budging. I made my decision and i made it very clear. We won the votes that we wa nt very clear. We won the votes that we want on that basis. We won the votes that we want on that basis. But fine gails leader isnt being so categorical. There has been complete compatibility in the government. Once policies in prayer doesnt change overnight. Lets get more analysis from the irish times columnist, una mullally in dublin. This has been a seismic historic unique, incomparable election. We are now in Uncharted Waters with regards to the balance of power that sinn fein, going into any negotiations. The leader was saying she was reaching out to left wing parties to see if they could form a left wing coalition. The numbers dont look very clearfor left wing coalition. The numbers dont look very clear for now. Whether the two archrivals who dont really a ny whether the two archrivals who dont really any differences between them, will actually go into coalition together or whether no government can be formed and it gets kicked back to the electors so interesting weeks ahead. This election is kind ofan weeks ahead. This election is kind of an echo of the recession. I think finn gial came to power to clean up that mess. You have this anomaly where you have a so called booming economy, yet its of life issue. People are really hurting and we have a dysfunctional property market, there is a real lack of supply of housing and despite things getting better, that combined with Health Services who werent working to peoples liking and kind of a broad left surge. Sinn fein has capitalise on that. Stay with us on outside source, still to come. Well be live in New Hampshire in the us for the democratic primary tomorrow, when Bernie Sanders and Peter Buttigieg will be battling it out for the top spot. A new investigation into the deaths of a british man and his two children who drowned in a Hotel Swimming Pool in spain on Christmas Eve has taken place. Gavin lee was there on the costa del sol. We sailed the team of scuba divers coming to the end of their testing. This is because of a judge who is looking at the final conclusion of this report who has allowed more tests. They are challenging, the up reports saying there is possibly negligence involved. One focuses on the cleaning system which gives to the cleaning system which gives to the suction system, and if it was a switch on at the time that the children were in the water, it was a force pulling them down. Thats one area looking at. There also examining for cambridge four cameras. They will summit that to thejudge who will look cameras. They will summit that to the judge who will look at the information as to whether or not there was any negligence in this case. This is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. Our lead story . Chinas leader xi jinping makes his first public appearance in days as the country tackles the coronavirus, as 97 infected people die in just one day. Theres been another clash between syrian and turkish troops in idlib in syria. Five turkish soldiers have been killed. Turkey says its military has struck more than a hundred Syrian Government targets in response. Its happening as Syrian Government forces, backed by russia, mount a major offensive against rebel fighters in the northwest of the country. The us has charged four members of the chinese army over the hack Credit Rating giant, equifax. The us attorney general, william barr, said the data breach was one of the biggest ever. Nearly 150 fifty millon americans were affected when hackers stole personal information including names and addresses in 2017. Some uk and canadian customers were also hit. Heavily armed police and soldiers in el salvador have forced their way into parliament, demanding the approval of a multi Million Pound loan for better equipment. The armed men entered the building as the president was about to address to urge mps to back his plan for a loan of £85 million. This happened in essex here in the uk. A car fell into a sinkhole and people had to be evacutated from six homes after the ground became unstable. The coronavirus is impacting on businesses worldwide. Today British Airways announced its cancelled all of its flights to Mainland China until march. And nissan became the second car maker outside of china to suspend production due to supply shortages of parts from china, nissan kyushu in japan will carry out temporary production adjustments. Inside china, many factories remain shut, as the country works to contain the virus. And thats having a massive impact on Global Supply chains. Our economics editor faisal islam reports. It should be back to work in china after celebrating chinese new year, tens of millions of workers, expected to return to the cities and the factories. A commute is so far quieter than usual in the offices that are reopening, its anything but normal. Our company has adopted some special measures including sanitizing every day. The building is in isolation. We are required to wear masks the whole day while at work. The shops, food prices have surged up 20 . Pork prices have more than doubled at the same time, the economy is slowing. The actual economic inc. Back will and depend on the health impact. Its led to many factories remaining close that should have reopened by now. Sloping chinese demand for luxury goods and oil as well as reduced tourism are broad and some supply chains will keep are broken with many businesses seeking alternatives. The already wreak chinese economy is expected to see the slowest three months and over a decade, possibly an attraction and interned i could see the same for the entire world economy. Worth over £200 billion. That could be seen even 5000 miles away in this yorkshire factory dependent on components shipped in in the centre of the outbreak. We have been able to find alternatives for the materials but because we need them quickly now, then there are price implications and some of that has been as much as three times the original cost. There has been major disruption, likely to delay recovery in our world economy. President act ii appeared in beijing ina president act ii appeared in beijing in a protective mask and said if it is contained that is uncertain right now. is contained that is uncertain right now. President jinping. The contest to be the democratic nominee for president has descended into further chaos, after the two candidates who came out top in iowa last week have both demanded a partial recount. Senator Bernie Sanders narrowly lost to his rival Pete Buttigieg in a contest which only produced a result after several days delay due to technical problems. Theyre still fighting over that last contest in iowa, as the next one looms the primary is in New Hampshire tomorrow, jane obrien is there. Is the primary issue here how well the candidate can persuade people that they can be donald trump . Yes and talking of donald trump, we know he can really steal the show. Beat donald trump. Look at this. This is a home grown local crowd and he has brought the circus to town. The line for people trying to get in to this rally started last night. Its been going all the way around the block. People are still coming in. Hes expecting thousands and thousands of supporters and this on the eve of what is a huge calendar event for the democrats. This is the first primary in the nation. This is where the theyre supposed to be choosing the person who will be going on to fight donald trump and look. The Campaign Office of Pete Buttigieg. Pete buttigieg is second in the polls right now in New Hampshire. Bernie sanders is leading. Hes a clearfavourite hampshire. Bernie sanders is leading. Hes a clear favourite at the moment, but you know this is a wide open race. We dont know whats gonna happen and New Hampshire is a volatile state. How do we understand what the candidates what youre talking about . Two they focus on low civil or National Issues . If you go to any of the debates or complaints, they talk about health care, they talk about tax breaks, they talk about everything. That all changed in the last few days. Now theyre talking about how theyre going to beat donald trump and the candidates are having to prove to the voters who are mostly undecided, even now they havent made up their minds. Theyre trying to convince voters they are tough enough, that they have got what it takes to confront donald trump and this is the beginning of it. This is what they will be confronting. Very interesting. Donald trump busy holding his old event on the eve of that big vote for the democrats in New Hampshire. We will have full coverage through tuesday. President trump has sent his 4. 8 trillion dollar budget wish list to congress. Its thought to include a boost to military funding, but cuts to social servces, mainly the Health Programmes medicare and medicaid. Michelle fleury is in new york. Samira hussain is in new york. Help me understand the process. The president puts in a wish list but how likely is it that congress will sign that . I think you use the exact right phrasing by calling it a bit ofa right phrasing by calling it a bit of a wish list because he has outlined a lot of things that he wa nts to outlined a lot of things that he wants to get done. He wants the increased military spending and he wa nts to increased military spending and he wants to start slashing these a safety net programmes, which is unsurprising. Were talking about cuts to medicaid, cuts to the Environmental Protection agency, but its a wish close because the likelihood of this being passed by congress is very unlikely. He needs both houses to be able to get this budget passed but he only controls just one. So in that case, how can he get anything through the house of representatives, given how things are gonna be . Two they sit down and negotiate . Thatsjust are gonna be . Two they sit down and negotiate . Thats just the are gonna be . Two they sit down and negotiate . Thatsjust the probably run up the gates some Pretty Healthy guidelines. Have to guidelines. This is also a president ial Election Year so this is certainly donald trump trying to communicate what his priorities will be going down the line. But this will certainly be something they will certainly be something they will continue to negotiate and theyll probably do so in small steps. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Really a first play for donald trump in the ministration. Congress will come back, it will be a long process before that budget is agreed. There isa before that budget is agreed. There is a history of this agreement being very ha rd to is a history of this agreement being very hard to be agreed so well see how long that takes to play out. Live pictures from hong kong ssourcethe authorities ssource the authorities are evacuating residents from a residential building where two people have been diagnosed with coronavirus. Wev seen buses come and go, there are people standing weve seen buses come and go, there are people standing round in Hazardous Material suits. The two people who have been diagnosed with the virus live on different floors of the building and Authorities Say they are investigating the possibility of suspected environmental transmissionof the disease through the building somehow. Hong kong has confirmed 42 cases of coronavirus, which has killed more than 900 people, all but two in Mainland China. The cruise ship we were covering earlier in the programme, there has been a cruise ship isolated in hong kong with over 1800 people on board, but those people have all been tested. They been given the all clear and they have been allowed to leave the boat and, sure. Hong kong inevitably is very much caught up with this coronavirus. Keep an eye on whats happening and ill see you ina on whats happening and ill see you in a couple minutes. Hello there. Over the weekend, australia took quite a battering from Severe Weather with flash flooding across south wales and a cyclone in the west. This is cyclone damien. You can make out the eye there. It weakened rapidly as it moved in across what that are in australia through sunday into monday. It packs quite a punch as it made landfall as a category three storm with wind gusts in excess of 200 km an hour. Some flash flooding along the closest in abundance across New South Wales. This weather front bringing in moisture. Very strong winds, but in these downpours, some of the heaviest rains seen in the sydney area for over 30 years and the australia net service said thats three times the february average rainfall for this pa rt february average rainfall for this part of the world. Hundreds of thousands of homes remain without power. The good news is that has put out on the meza mega blazes, burning to the west of sydney. More showers on tuesday with a strong wind blowing down New South Wales. Perhaps something a little bit drier and more settled as we reach the weekend. On to north america, the United States took another battering from heavy snow across the great la kes from heavy snow across the great lakes into the northeast and further south sums under thorns across the south. Some thunderstorms. Colder air moving and turning rain into heavy snow, particularly for colorado. Closer to home then, storm ciara swept across the United Kingdom on sunday, bringing gales and also heavy rain with flash flooding. Its going to be very windy across the low countries, germany into scandinavia where we see some distress disruption. We see another area of low pressure on thursday to bring another round of gales and heavy rain and some very deep areas of low pressure will arrive on friday. In the short term, it stays cold and windy wintry showers, and it will be windy. Perhaps a little bit milder by the end of the week in the north. Take care. Hello, im ros atkins, this is outside source. Chinas leader xi jinping makes his first public appearance in days as the country tackles the coronavirus as 97 infected people die in just one day. Irish politics turned on its head, as the left wing republicans sinn fein take the biggest share of the popular vote. I may well be the next leader yes. Germanys politics also suffer a shock as the favourite to succeed Angela Merkel announces shell no longer stand to be the next chancellor. And more extreme weather in australia this time the heaviest rainfall in 30 years helps put out the bushfires. A big moment for german politics. This woman, Annegret Kramp karrenbauer was the favourite to succeed Angela Merkel in 2021. Not any more. Translation as far as im concerned, this has no impact on the stability of the grand Coalition Government. I was a party leader, andi government. I was a party leader, and i am the party leader. And i will remain in this position for the foreseeable future. But i have said i will not run for chancellor, but is in the nazi situation has not changed. Ms Kramp Karrenbauer will also stand down as the head of the Christian Democrats Party once a new leader is selected. The cdu remains in Coalition Government with Angela Merkel as chancellor. But this is a blow for the party. Annegret Kramp Karrenbauer was hand picked by Angela Merkel to be her successor. This is back in december 2018, when akk won the leadership vote. Since then shes become known as mini merkel. Heres the reaction of Angela Merkel today. She will not be the next chancellor. Translation i regard her decision with the utmost respect, but i have to say that i regret it. I can imagine it was not easy for her to do this, and i thank herfor being prepared to stay on tuesday of the process of choosing a successor. Jeff rathke from the American Institute for contemporary german studies says. Thuringia is a state in central germany. And this is the debacle jeff rathke was talking about. On wednesday, Thomas Kemmerich from the liberal fdp party became state Prime Minister but only with votes from bjorn hocke and his the far right afd party. He needed them as the fdp only took 5 in last years state elections. That he decided work with the far right broke a long standing taboo in german politics and the ramifications have been playing out ever since. Where Annegret Kramp karrenbauer comes in is that members of her cdu party voted alongside the afd to pick mr kemmerich that broke with a long standing policy of not voting in synch with the far right. Heres Annegret Kramp karrenbauer again. They stay translation a move against the empty translation a move against the em pty wea ke ns translation a move against the empty weakens a cdu. I stand for a cdu that could he rejects a ny i stand for a cdu that could he rejects any form of direct or indirect conversation with the afd. They have underlined this today. But lets be clear, annagret Kramp Karrenbauers inability to control a Regional Branch of her party is not the only reason shes going. The pressures been building. Heres bbcs Damien Mcguinness in berlin. One of them were a series of off coloured jokes about tra nsgender people, presumably in order to cater to her conservative base. Those went down badly with voters though. The main gaffe was the reaction of the party to a very critical video from a famous youtuber who accused the christian democrats of being out of touch and unable to win over particularly younger voters. Her reaction to that video also confirmed in many people because my eyes the party and indeed, herself are out of touch with voters. Cas mudde is an academic who studies fringe and extreme politics. His point being the afd is posing questions that the other parties are struggling to answer. And it can do so because of its support. It has mps in all 16 of germanys state parliaments. This is its share of the vote in the most recent state elections. Nationally it has 89 seats in the lower house of parliament because the two biggest parties the christian democrats and social democrats are in coalition together, its the biggest opposition party. All of which is symptomatic of the fall in support for the two dominant parties. Heres Damien Mcguinness again. We now have Six National Parties in germany, that makes it much harder to form any stable majority in the regions, but also nationally. So the big question is how germanys mainstream parties to deal with the rise of the afd. The afd is plateaued, and so it is not getting any more votes it seemed at the moment but it is still there. At the moment but it is still there. At the moment germanys mainstream parties say they want form any formal cooperation or indeed coalition with the afd. By conservative voters and conservative mps within the centre right party say its only a matter of time before the centre right will have to Work Together with the far right. Cruise ships have been in the eye of the storm with this virus. In hong kong, passengers on one ship here they are, on a vessel called the world dream they had been held in isolation after some people on a previous cruise caught the virus. But theyve now been allowed to disembark. That was after the hong kong authorties carried out tests on 1,800 people on board and gave them the all clear. Its a different on a separate cruise ship injapan another 65 cases have been confirmed among passengers today. The ship has been quarantined since last week. This is the diamond princess ship it has 3,700 passengers on board. Theyve been held in isolation off yokohalma for two weeks, after a passenger who had disembarked at a previous stop tested positive. And unlike in hong kong where everyone was tested, thats not yet happened here. Testing people for infection is going to be really important to controlling and eventually beating this virus. This laboratory in wuhan is one place thats already equipped to conduct the tests. The who says being able to diagnose the disease effectively is crucial so people can be given the all clear more quickly. Heres the whos director general again. The who is working to acquit laboratories with the capacity to rapidly diagnose cases. Without vital capacity, countries are in the dark as to how far and wide the virus has spread. For more on the difficulties in testing for the virus, heres drjennifer nuzzo. I think one of the challenges with these cruise ships as you have everybody captured in a moment of time and if its possible they have been exposed and are infected by the virus and they may show signs of that virus of the next potentially up that virus of the next potentially up to two weeks, so testing everyone at any moment in time is going to be difficult to know, truly whether the person is infected or not. And i think this really speaks to one of the challenges of trying to contain these individuals and decide whether or not they are safe to go or not. Particularly if they are on the ship and then exposed to somebody but then later developed an infection it begs the question whether they have to start the clock over again for another two weeks and whether that will keep going in perpetuity depending on how many people ultimately develop the infection. But can you diagnose someone with the infection if they have not shown any symptoms . Its not clear. Theres cases where they have, just to put into perspective, what looking for when we are doing these tests is whether they can detect the presence of the virus dna or actually in this case are in a. We are looking for the genetic material of the virus. Some people have tested positive early on in the infection, but its also possible that some people may not test positive until later. We dont actually know. In terms of the tactics of using quirky periods we see them use a different countries. We reasonably effective at ensuring that people are concerned the practical terms we convinced this best approach . Targeting measures aimed at particular countries requires knowing where in the world the virus is transmitting. We dont have a great sense and the discovery of the case in the uk from someone thatis of the case in the uk from someone that is not travel to china really underscored how difficult it is when you dont have a sense of where in the world the viruses. Most countries testing people who have been to for travel to china and they may be missing to have people who are infected from other countries. If we have travel restrictions in the countries theyre only going to be as good as our understanding of where in the world the virus is. At this point i am not convinced of having a great understanding of that. We are used to seeing cases of this in the outbreak of the first six to eight weeks, what are you expecting after the point that we have reached . Its really hard for us have reached . Its really hard for us to understand the dynamics fully. Especially since we are likely missing mild cases and some very hesitant to extrapolate based on numbers and shapes of curves, we have not really even seem great epidemic curves from china to know when people come when all of the reported cases became ill, sol when people come when all of the reported cases became ill, so i very much caution against just kind reported cases became ill, so i very much caution againstjust kind of expecting a certain number of growth. I think that requires having a more complete picture of where our cases are and how many we have the we dont have the Surveillance Systems to support that. Thanks to jenniferfor her help systems to support that. Thanks to jennifer for her help once again. Sydney is hit by its heaviest rain in 30 years, bringing widespread flooding but also putting out two massive bushfires. A 58 year old man was killed in hampshire by a falling tree as storm ciara battered britain yesterday. Thousands of homes are still without power and theres disruption on the roads, railways and at airports. Sangita myska reports. It is what it looks like when you are actually above the flood. Almost submerged by storm cara. By the head com plete submerged by storm cara. By the head complete penance in torture deals we re complete penance in torture deals were millions of pounds in a flood defences in the region have proved useless. The couple that on this Hardware Store in West Yorkshire have had enough. Theyve owned the shop for 30 years. But to know with the Environment Agency is. We see nobody today at all, nobody has been around. And the siren did not go off. With 100 flood warnings and place the government says it is taking action. There are hundreds of Environment Agency staff on the ground working to help make sure all flood defences are working properly at help with the clean up of the government obviously stands ready to support. The storm has caused travel chaos. Gusts of up to 100 mph couple trees into the pads of drivers killing at least one man in hampshire. Rail routes across the north of england and scotland have been worst affected. Here at the houston station trains delayed or cancelled leading passengers stranded. The people trying to put the info structure in place dont seem the info structure in place dont seem to care about the impact it has on people. Last night 20,000 homes we re on people. Last night 20,000 homes were left without power, much of which Power Companies say they have restored. It is hit the length and breadth of brink britain and single opened overnight and this once saw that a car in essex. The experts of the worst of the storm is now over, but counting the cost will continue well into the days and weeks to come. This is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. Our lead story. Chinas leader xi jinping makes his first public appearance in days as the country tackles the coronavirus as 97 infected people die in just one day. Vast amounts of rain have doused some of the bushfires in eastern australia. Sydney had its heaviest rainfall in 30 years and that was enough to deal with two massive bushfires in New South Wales. Look at this. This is sydney. At least 200 people were rescued by Emergency Services over the weekend. And look at the sea on this sydney beach. Worth noting that Western Australia is also dealing with exteme weather. This is the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone damien which made landfall at the weekend. And that caused flooding as well there. If you want a sense of how much it rained in sydney look at this its how much rain fell from friday to monday, compared to the average for february. The recent rainfall has assisted firefighters to put over 30 fires out since friday. Some of these blazes have been burning for weeks and even months, they also tweeted this image of a very happy firefigher, and a list of some of the fires that have been put out. Two of the biggest were the Gospers Mountain and currowan fire. The Gospers Mountain fire had been burning since october. It destroyed half a million hectares, and was considered a mega blaze that was too big to put out. The currowan fire burned for 7h days, destroying close to a similar amount of land, and more than 300 homes. There are still fires burning in New South Wales the Rural Fire Service there says there are about 30. But they also say that with more rain expected, they could soon be out too. Another positive outcome is that Water Supplies have been replenished, after years of drought. The Warragamba Dam supplies most of sydneys water. Water nsw says its at 60 full, up 17 in a week. But of course these heavy rains have caused damage and disruption in sydney. Shaimaa khalil is there. About 100,000 homes are without power. Some schools have been closed, trains and ferries have been delayed, and we also know that street everywhere in the city have been drenched from the suburbs in the west and the fate of the north. But speak to one of the meteorologist from pbc weather. Susan powell is going to help with us. Susan powell is going to help with us. He talked about the refund in sydney, that was in four days to my picture that in 2a hours and thats what New South Wales had. Thats 16 inches of rain, heres there were 12 is ruler, another foragers inches of rain, heres there were 12 is ruler, anotherforagers on top of that in 2a hours. Theres more rain to come from the one thing i will just say which we saw in california following the wildfires is its great news the wildfires are out but youve damaged one of land structure and you can then get landslides. We could be there other publications to talk about but theres no satellite picture and what we have basically had in recent days is relentless showers eating into the southeast of queensland and into New South Wales. But it will draw your eye to now is this swirl here. Its a Tropical Storm at the moment the track remains a little uncertain but if we start to play forward for the next few days to get to the showers dont let up from the east coast of australia has that most feed and from the ocean and its going to keep the show was coming but if this comes into play which it may will do later on in the week that could mean coastal upwelling where you get a large storm surge onto the coast, it could also mean some heavier rain as we see the showers getting kept up, the system itself is a possibility that it could make landfall so there could be a spell of strong winds. Everywhere we look at it i think there are certainly plenty more rainfall to come on the way down from the southeast of queensland right the way into New South Wales and certainly as we take a look at the outlook we can see things continue. This is from the australian met service we see a four day and predicted rainfall total. We see another 150 mm of rain and some of the wettest of the weather, its a very fine balance, really. Much more information from sin and her collea g u es more information from sin and her colleagues in the pbc weather app, if you dont have the unders microphone im going to come back in front of the screen because we will finish the programme by talking about the oscars. A historic moment at this years oscars. The south korean dark comedy parasite won best film. Its the first non english film to ever win this. And it tells the of a poor south korean Family Living in a small basement flat and a rich family who live in a mansion. Heres some of it. The film has highlighted the conditions that many young south koreans have to live in. Julie yoon from bbc korean has been to visit one of these basement flats. 28 year old man has lived here, as its called in korea for two years. When people come and they always asked where they can sit, and theres no place to sit. Im sad about it. I heard it can survive in the desert, but it could not survive in my house. The bathroom is at least a half a metre above the floor, and there is no sink. In the summer floor, and there is no sink. In the summer he suffers from unbearable humidity and battles with rapidly growing mould. They are notjust a quirk of civil architecture but a product of history. They trace their roots back decades. The conflict of north and south korea. The late 19605 north and south korea. The late 1960s arms north korean agents for treated south korea. During an escalation, the south korean government required all new apartment buildings to have basements to serve as bunkers. But now as house prices grow basement apartments are an affordable alternative. Basically everything is good, but sometimes im with my friends that i tell them that i live here, they think im poor. But im not. I choose to live here because its much cheaper than other places. As you can imagine, this win has gone down very very well in south korea. Laura bicker reports on the story, from seoul. Cheering director bong joon ho was not the only one overwhelmed overwhelmed by the scale of parasites success. As he grappled with his four oscars, including one for best picture, south koreans in seoul could not hide their pride. Translation this kind of thing is a Huge National celebration. I want to thank the director and all the actors and actresses. This is wonderful. The south korean president moonjae in started his Cabinet Meeting with applause as the country erupted in a wave of congratulatory joy, which included this tweet from korean American Star sandra oh. One korean film critic describes these wins as a miracle, but its not come from nowhere. For the last decade, the south korean government has ploughed money into what it calls the korean wave k pop, k drama and korean cinema. These wins at the oscars prove that korean wave has come crashing down on hollywood. Laura bicker, bbc news, seoul. Its not the movies first big win on the award trail. parasite won the coveted palm dor award at the Cannes Film Festival last year. For more on why the film has been so successful, heres korean film curatorjin cho. There are two factors i want to talk about, perhaps the subject matter of this film. Its about inequality, you know the social disparity that that everyone can associate with, and thats something that really was done really timely. Everyone was waiting for this kind of story, and cinematically, this was really brilliant. Hes so inventive and creative and this is something that no one can put down into one genre. Its a thriller, its a social commentary, its a black comedy and its action, so you really cant tell where this film is going, so its an amazing piece of cinema that everyone recognises. And if you want a full rundown of who one, and who did not win at the oscars you can find that on the bbc news website, bbc outcomes flash news is where to go. Click on the entertainment tab you will very easily find all the details. Also if you want more updates in the story thats been our lead story for the last few weeks the coronavirus, it hit the health tab and you will find full corkage there. Coverage they are. I will see you tomorrow at the usual time, goodbye. Though there. In the wake of storm ciara of the week and we have a number of flood warnings and forth across the country, but increasingly we have been concentrating on snowy weather, look at this on monday afternoon we saw a trough move through bringing a band of heavy rain and now because of the heaviness of the rain would happened is that temperature dropped by 5 degrees and a space of an hour, the rain turned to snow across states way to snow across eight suite of Northern England and the north midlands in particular. Notjust over the high ground, we also had snow getting right down to the low levels even to parts of lincolnshire as well. The snow risk remains as youre looking at the weather picture to tuesday as well. The risk of snow on the ground across the hills of Northern England when you get scotland as much as ten cm to the this on tuesday. A risk of transport disruption. Showers will continue to pack and across the northern half of the uk in particular where they will continue to fall as snow and its going to be another windy day as well with coastal gusts reaching 50, 60 five miles an houror coastal gusts reaching 50, 60 five miles an hour or Something Like that. More range around 1a or 15 mph. The ability showers fairly quickly. Another cold day across the north of the uk and more of those showers will be following as snow. For more theres through tuesday. Tuesday and wednesday see further snow showers as well looking and across from the island and particularly into scotland with further significant regulations of snow an ongoing threat of icy conditions. In a disruptive snow on the roads. Elsewhere pressure rises for a time across england and wales soap wednesday should be a drier day across whales come in the midlands and southern counties of england the next system will begin to work its way into the Far Southwest later in the day with upwards of rain arriving. Renaissance it was the area of low pressure will push its way in with heavy snow for a time across the hills of Northern England and scotland and i could cause problems. Chris after the recent wet weather we have seen flooding over recent days this extra rain will be heavy at times could also cause localised Flooding Issues as we had on into thursday. The destruction to places its so cold in scotland with temperatures coming back to about 10 degrees. We end the week like this thats on the low pressure system for singing off the atlantic another band of fairly heavy rain and some blustery winds as well. Coming from the southwest direction and turning milder in scotland around 9 degrees but further south 13 degrees in london it is temperatures way above normalfor london it is temperatures way above normal for the london it is temperatures way above normalfor the time of london it is temperatures way above normal for the time of year. Continue with the mild theme on saturday from about it windy day. Severe deals flowing across the areas and a slow moving band of heavy rain, that again is more than likely going to lead to some Flooding Issues as we head into the weekend. Stay tuned for the forecast of flooding is a concern. Thejet strea m of flooding is a concern. Thejet stream remains very powerful through the weekend and indeed running around to 50 which is pretty extreme for the atlantic jet stream around to 50 which is pretty extreme for the atlanticjet stream this will be from the areas of low pressure. Through the weekend it does to stay unsettled into sunday but often the weather will be pretty windy and continue the theme of windy and continue the theme of windy weather spells of rain. Still going to say pretty unsettled. Tonight at ten, the high speed rail link hs2, whose future has hung in the balance, will be given the go ahead by the government, the bbc has learned. Hs2 will link london to birmingham, manchester and leeds, with drastically cutjourney times. Today, we have our confirmation that we will build the railway that will close the north south divide and bring our country together again. But opponents are angry about the cost, the damage to the environment, and the disruption to residents near the route. In front of your very eyes, you can see sort of, you know, treasured landscape disappearing. Taxpayers money would be far better spent on local, regional transport projects. Well bring you all the details on the eve of the expected announcement by boris johnson