american citizens quarantined on a cruise ship injapan are to be flown home after a jump in the number of new cases of coronavirus on board. and in half an hour here on bbc news, dateline london takes a look at events in the uk through outsiders‘ eyes, and at how this week's issues are being tackled around the world. good morning. caroline flack's management team have criticised the crown prosecution service for pressing ahead with a case against her for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend — saying it had caused her significant distress, and hadn't been in the public interest. the presenter of the itv reality show, love island, took her own life at her home in east london yesterday. this morning on instagram, her boyfriend posted that he was heartbroken by the news. david sillito reports. it's the return of the flack! love island, x factor, i'm a celebrity — caroline flack was a presenter on some of the biggest programmes on british television. she was, until a few weeks ago, the face of love island's glamorous, escapist fun. let's talk love. who's looking for the real thing? everything, though, had unravelled after she was arrested and charged with the assault of her boyfriend. in court in december, it was clear that she was deeply distressed. yesterday, she was found dead at her flat. her lawyer said she had ta ken her own life. friends and colleagues have spoken of their shock and heartbreak. love island is a show that thrives on its impact on social media, and after the news emerged, thousands have been expressing their grief and sympathy. but her court appearance was proof enough that she had, before this, been facing intense scrutiny — both in the press and online. on its best days, social media is a very powerful tool for these presenters because they can effortlessly and immediately communicate with so many different fans and really bring their own personality to the fore. the problem is that on the bad days, that scrutiny and attention doesn't go away. it stays with them. the macdonut brothers! her tv career went back nearly 20 years. this, tmi on children's bbc, and then, in 2014, she won strictly come dancing. the night she won, there was elation. but she spoke afterwards of her struggle with depression. then came the assault charge. she was accused of hitting her boyfriend while he slept. he stood by her, but they weren't allowed to communicate before her forthcoming trial. last night, her management team criticised the decision to press ahead with the trial, given her mental state. the crown prosecution service said its deepest sympathies go to the family and friends of caroline flack, but added that given the tragic circumstances, it would not comment further on the specifics of the case at this stage. caroline flack had in recent weeks been advised to stay off social media, but she did post this on instagram. she thanked those who had been kind to her and added... this kind of scrutiny and speculation is a lot to take on for one person. another post read simply... be kind. earlier i spoke to our correspondent angus crawford who's been looking at more reaction to caroline flack's death. there is an element of anger now appearing on social media, very much directed at the media generally for its potential role, also at the crown prosecution service. her boyfriend lewis burton posted recently, saying his heart was broken, "we had very something special". but he also said at the end of the post, "i was not allowed to be there. i kept asking and asking", and that refers to the fact the court decided that she was not allowed contact with him ahead of the trial in march. her management company are clearly very angry with the cps. they said they pursued this when they knew how vulnerable she was, and they described it as a potential show trial. there is creeping in here a sense that the cps may have been at fault, that she was a victim of grotesque media interference in her life, as well. the difficulty with a case where someone takes their own life is that we do not know the whole circumstances and can never know what was going through her mind at the time she took the decision she took. but inevitably, there will be questions asked about the cps decision and about the support she had from itv, from herfriends and family and, of course, about the issue of whether social media might have played a role, because there has been a lot of posting about her case. never mind during her career, she started on bbc as a children's tv presenter. she has had to live her life in the spotlight and that comes with a heavy price. that seems clear. she lived her life very publicly, whether she liked it or not. she wanted to present — she was very good at it and very popular. but being in that sphere means you are under constant surveillance by social media and by the media itself. it is important to note that her friends, fans, celebrities, this is, at the moment, for them, they are devastated. herformer co—host olly murs tweeted. he said "my heart is for ever broken, i have lost something i will never get back." that seems to me where the thoughts of friends and family are today. love island has expressed condolences. what about the programme itself? no programme this weekend as a mark of respect. we don't know. it was pulled last night, so we don't know. we don't know whether it will run. clearly, it is laura whitmore now presenting it. she took over when caroline flack was forced to stand down. this is now the fourth death associated with love island, of those who have taken their own lives. itv put out a statement saying its thoughts are with friends and family and described her as a much—loved member of the love island team. that was angus crawford, talking to me earlier. if you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised this morning, you can find help and support on the bbc‘s actionline website. more than 300 flood warnings have been issued today as storm dennis continues to batter the uk, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. the met office have issued a red warning for rain in south wales, meaning the situation could be "life threatening", with risk of damage to property and infrastructure. around 170 flights have been cancelled already today, affecting at least 25,000 passengers. rail passengers are being urged to check trains amid expected delays and cancellations, with some roads already closed due to flooding. here is footage from a coastguard team in hampshire on their way to rescue a stranded motorist. and relentless rain in the yorkshire dales. and in pontypridd in wales, you can see cars driving down a flooded street. the water is so high here, it's reaching the bonnet of the car. national resource wales has urged people to stay at home unless theirjourney is essential — they've said do not drive through flood water, as just two feet of water can float a car. 0ur wales correspondent tomos morgan is in tonna in the neath valley, he sent us this update about the situation there. let me tell you about where i am, near neath in the south wales valleys. this area has been hit with a red warning, a rare warning which the last time that happened was in 2018 and we have not seen one since. it is a warning for rain. this is affecting things like the river neath. it has burst its banks here. it has affected a row of houses here. we can't get to them because the road is completely flooded. at aam, the emergency services were called and when we arrived they were still here and a bus was taking residents to safety to a nearby sport centre. a few decided to remain in their houses, but we understand the majority have been ta ken to safety. this is one of the few areas in wales hit with the severe flood warning. wales as a whole has 76 of the 300 flood warnings, so it is an area of the uk badly damaged by storm dennis, just a week after storm ciara hit coastal towns on the west side of wales. what's the picture looking like, is the rain easing and therefore they're trying to contain what water there is? or do they expect further downpours? they expect more rain to be pouring and the red warning is in place until 11. it has ceased at the moment but the warning by the met office is in place until 11am and then there is an amber warning extending to around 3pm and a yellow warning for the rest of the day. there will be rain for the majority across wales but when it strikes, it will strike worst in the south wales valleys. you mentioned crickhowell earlier and i spoke to someone on twitter who rented a house there. they are stuck, they are stuck upstairs due to floodwater coming in. in pontypridd in the south wales valleys, the high street is completely flooded. pictures on social media of cars under water. rugby clubs, sport fields underwater. no doubt there will be repercussions in the ongoing week from the downpour over the past 2a hours. julie foley from the environment agency says that the situation across the country is changing rapidly and that people should heed all the warnings. it's a very fast—moving, developing situation at the moment. so it is very important that people keep a close eye on flood warnings and pay attention to the advice of the emergency services. we have hundreds of flood warnings and flood alerts out across the whole of the country. also particular focus on those parts of the country like the calder valley that was affected by storm ciara last weekend. actually, this is a national event and it will be affecting other parts of the country. around the thames, we have particular concerns about properties around tenbury as well as parts of the west midlands. it is important that people stay vigilant and pay attention to their flood warnings. i'm joined now from exeter by craig snell, met office meteorologist. iimagine you i imagine you have had a busy morning and were busy overnight. how is it looking now? at the moment, we are seeing that the worst of the heavy rain is now clearing parts of wales and is now moving into southern england and parts of the midlands. so the red warning has just expired but we still have lots ofamber just expired but we still have lots of amber warnings out for parts of northern england, wales, south—west and south—east england this afternoon. so still not out of the woods yet. even over the next 2a hours, we will see further heavy showers in areas where we really don't need to see further rain. in terms of the flooded rivers, that we are past. your concern is presumably the next weather pattern that is coming in. is there going to be time for the water to at least recede at its own rate, or is it going to continue to pile up with additional rainfall? as we go through the next couple of days, we will see further showers move into parts of the uk into areas where we don't need further rain. but as we go through this week, turning our attention to wednesday and thursday, we will see another spell of rain. this one may be more towards northern parts of the uk, so we might see a bit of respite. but at the moment, any further rainfall is not going to help any area which is seeing saturated ground. so this week is not as unsettled as last week, but still very changeable, with further rainfor many still very changeable, with further rain for many of us. and a relatively mild week. is it going to stay that way? that could have an impact as well if you're talking about the difference between freezing temperatures and allowing water to flow away. over the next couple of days, we will see temperatures return to near average. as you say, it has been very mild. cooler air is now filtering through, so we may see sleet or snow across the higher ground of northern parts of the uk. it will be a colder week, but still nothing drastically cold for the time of year. and on the red weather warning, that has now expired. no suggestion of any more being imposed by the environment agency? not at the moment. the river warning has just expired, agency? not at the moment. the river warning hasjust expired, but agency? not at the moment. the river warning has just expired, but we still have some amber warnings out. there is still some serious weather around. the main area of heavy and persistent rain is now slowly working southeastwards across southern parts of the uk. if you live in london and the south—east, we still have lots of heavy rain here. lots of surface spray on the roads and i would imagine lots of transport disruption as well. so there could still be the risk of further flooding, there could still be the risk of furtherflooding, because it does ta ke furtherflooding, because it does take the rivers time to respond to the rain that has fallen. craig snell, thank you very much. the headlines on bbc news... as tributes continue to pour in for the love island presenter, caroline flack, her management have criticised the crown prosecution service for refusing to drop charges that she assaulted her boyfriend. heavy rain and strong winds continue to lash large parts of the uk. a severe flood warning is in place in south wales, meaning there's a danger to life. american citizens quarantined on a cruise ship injapan are to be flown home after a jump in the number of new cases of coronavirus on board. sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here'sjohn watson. good morning. sam skinner and matt fagerson have been added to the scotland squad for the rest of the six nations. they've both recovered from injury. glasgow warriors back row fagerson last played a test in august, while skinner missed out on the world cup injapan after sustaining a hamstring problem in the summer test win over france. the lock forward has been impressive for exeter chiefs, helping them to the top of the premiership. after two defeats in the six nations, scotland are away to italy on saturday. in the premier league today, arsenal face newcastle in the late kick—off, while tottenham can move up to fifth with victory away to aston villa. it begins a busy run for spurs, who also play in the champions league last 16 on wednesday, something manager jose mourinho is all too aware of. it's a really hard week for us. sunday villa, wednesday leipzig, saturday chelsea. match after match. and the first one, villa is always difficult. they are a good team, fighting to stay in the division. self—esteem really high with qualification to the wembley final. very difficult match. we have to go with all the potential we have. two days after that, we have to play leipzig. a new haircut forjesse mourinho as he heads into that busy run of fixtures. —— jose mourinho. the first of the day's women's fa cup matches has been called off due to storm dennis — that's arsenal against lewes. but there are four more fifth—round games scheduled. check the bbc sport website for updates. england's women had a big win over new zealand in adelaide, as they warm—up for the t20 world cup. katherine brunt took 3—23 as they restricted the kiwis to 1311—9, before england captain heather knight made 45 to guide her side to a six—wicket victory with 12 balls to spare. they play sri lanka on tuesday before their first world cup game against south africa in perth in a week's time. and england's men play the deciding t20 against south afica in centurion today. you can follow it with text commentary on the bbc sport website and app — it starts at 12:30pm. britain's kyle edmund is one win away from a second atp tour title, after reaching the final of the new york 0pen. he beat miomir kecmanovic in straight sets and said he was really enjoying his tennis. this is his first final since he won the european 0pen in antwerp 16 months ago. he'll face italy's andreas seppi in today's final. rory mcilroy said he had to keep telling himself to stay patient, as he moved to the top of the leaderboard at the genesis invitational event in los angeles. he admitted he found the putting tricky, but he shot a three—under—par 68 at the riveria country club to finish the day on 10—under par alongside adam scott and matt kuchar. way down the field on five—over is tiger woods, the host of this tournament. he said he was feeling run down and he's skipping next week's event in mexico as he continues to manage his workload in the build—up to the defence of his masters title in april. that is the fun part of trying to figure this whole come out, how much doi figure this whole come out, how much do i play, when do i play? do i listen to the body, are there some things i can push and some things i can't? i had a theory that this year i may play about the same amount. i played about 12 times last year. so thatis played about 12 times last year. so that is my number for the year. i am not going to play a lot more than that, just because of the physical toll. shaun murphy will play kyren wilson in the final of snooker‘s welsh 0pen today, with murphyjust making it past china's yan bingtao 6—5. and wilson's match also went to a final frame. he recovered from 11—2 down to knock out the four—time champion ronnie 0'sullivan. the final is on bbc two in wales from one o'clock, and on the red button and the bbc sport website and app. that's all the sport for now. i'll have more in the next hour. the us says it's sending two aircraft to japan to evacuate american citizens quarantined on board a giant cruise ship in the port of yokohama. there are now 355 cases of the coronavirus infection from the ship. 0ur correspondent, rupert wingfield hayes, is in yokohama, where the ship is in port. behind me you can see the diamond princess and you might be able to see below the bow, there are a bunch of white buses. they have recently arrived. there are seven or eight of them and they are being prepared to take the american citizens, about 400 american citizens, off the ship. the us government has sent two aircraft. they're on their way from the us to japan and expected to land later this evening. the americans on board the ship will be evacuated on these buses, taken to the airport and put on the evacuation flights and taken to california, where they will continue their quarantine. it is clear from what the us government said in a statement that they do not believe their citizens are safe on this ship. they do not believe the quarantine is working. that is why they decided to take their citizens off. canada and hong kong have said they will do the same. so far, the british government said it is consulting closely. you can see more buses coming in. the british government says it is consulting with the japanese government. it does not currently, we understand, have plans to evacuate the 57 british citizens and 20 british crew from the ship. for everyone else not evacuated, they will have to remain on board at least until wednesday, when they are tested. those who are negative will be allowed to leave and the quarantine will end on wednesday, but there is a proviso. anybody in close contact with someone who has tested positive, their quarantine will be set again to zero and they will have to spend another 1a days, possibly still on board the ship. the transport secretary, grant shapps, says he has had no conversations with china about building the hs2 high speed rail line. it's reported the china railway construction corporation wrote to hs2 limited last month, saying it could complete the project faster than currently planned and at a lower cost. our business correspondent, katy austin is here. what is not to like about faster and lower costs ? what is not to like about faster and lower costs? exactly. it was only days ago that borisjohnson confirmed that the high—speed rail link hs2 would go ahead, the first phase from london to birmingham and then up to manchester and leeds. but then up to manchester and leeds. but the project has been beset with delays and there has been criticism over the spiralling cost. it was reported yesterday that the chinese state backed railway construction company, had offered to come in and build the whole thing in just five yea rs build the whole thing in just five years at a vastly reduced cost. that sounds attractive and it is not com pletely sounds attractive and it is not completely inconceivable that china would be involved in some way. but even yesterday, it wasn't clear whether the letter it sent to hs2 had kicked off anything other than an acknowledgement and telling them what the process was. so although the department for transport had said preliminary discussions had been had, that may not have been anything substantial. today the transport secretary grant shapps has confirmed that things have not progressed far since that letter was sent last month. he said that although the chinese can build products quickly, he said on the andrew marr show that they don't have our planning or legal systems. they don't have to respect property rights in the same way. so he was pouring cold water on this idea from a standards point of view. i think what's happened is they have clearly had a letter sent to hsz limited. there has been no conversation with me as a minister, as the secretary of state, or not. but i have to say, by the way, i kind of really want to get this thing built faster, if it's possible. so we would be fools not to have a conversation, but i think, you know, five years, when you look at what is required and the contracts that need to be laid and so on and so forth, it is an enormous project. you are not going to build it in five years. that was grant shapps talking to andrew marr. in terms of what could happen now, he talked about not having to deal with our planning system. presumably, the chinese don't have to deal with our politics and how complicated it is. what about the progress of this project? the go—ahead is one thing, but getting started is another. you are white. politics would play a huge role in any future investment by the chinese in any key infrastructure. for example, when talking about 5g networks, the decision to allow huawei a limited role has caused tension with the us. but whatever happens with china being involved, phase one of the project, a list of the ground work is already under way. and the majority of the contract way. and the majority of the co ntra ct to way. and the majority of the contract to build that phase one linking london and birmingham are already allocated. so ripping up all those contracts and giving china access to build the entire project would have been problematic anyway, leaving aside the politics. what happens in the future with the second phase, it is much less clear what will happen and when with that, although it is hoped it would be open by 2040. we will see. for the moment, the transport secretary is saying he has not had any discussions with china's state backed railway construction company. he will find out what conversations have been had. he is certainly playing down the idea that they offer to build hs2 by china is being taken seriously. thank you very much. now it's time for a look at the weather with phil avery. for much of the morning, we have been talking about a red warning affecting southern parts of england. it's 11 o'clock, that has now stopped. there are other amber warnings across wales and the south—west of england and the north of england. they won until three o'clock and there is one in the south—east until six. they are separate from the flood warnings. the relevant websites will keep you up—to—date. it is an improving situation with regard to the rainfall across the north of england and increasingly through wales and the south—west. the flood situation isa the south—west. the flood situation is a different kettle of fish. it will be the early evening before we see the last of the persistent and heavy rain getting away from the south—eastern quarter. later this evening, our attention will turn to the northern half of britain because as storm dennis's centre gets close to scotland, gusts of 80 miles an hour are possible. and we had covered a couple of windy days to come through monday and tuesday. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines... as tributes continue to pour in for the love island presenter, caroline flack, her management have criticised the crown prosecution service for refusing to drop charges that she assaulted her boyfriend. heavy rain and strong winds continue to lash large parts of the uk. a severe flood warning is in place in south wales, meaning there's a danger to life. american citizens quarantined on a cruise ship injapan are to be flown home after a jump in the number of new cases of coronavirus on board. now on bbc news, dateline london. hello and welcome to dateline london. i'm carrie gracie. this week: children die in the snows of north—west syria. will anyone do anything to stop a new grim chapter in this tragedy? a brutal and messy government reshuffle demonstrates the maxim that a week is a long time in british politics. and all sides agree that ireland has a new electoral landscape. but who will actually govern? that remains shrouded in fog. my guests today: agnes poirier of french news weekly l'express. irish writer brian 0'connell. veteran new york times reporterjohn fischer burns. political commentator steve richards. welcome to you all. the syrian war will soon go into a 10th year with so much suffering for civilians that it's hard to imagine there could be a new low. but the current assault against idlib, syria's last rebel—held enclave, is a humanitarian catastrophe. the united nations says that many of the 800,000 people fleeing the town are children and some are now dying in sub—zero temperatures. john, can you start us off on this? damascus says that it is attempting to eradicate the terrorist threat in north—west syria right now. what is its strategic objectives as it also bombs schools, hospitals, shops? i'd like to answer you with something of a personal apology, like so many people who see this devastation on the nightly news, it makes me want to weep. and with a particularly personal edge to it because i was among those who felt in 2003 that toppling saddam hussein at an acceptable cost would be a good idea. we now see 17 years later what a complete catastrophe was triggered by the american invasion of iraq. and you trace the syrian events to that? absolutely, the times that the americans invaded syria was always a brutal dictatorship, but nobody could have imagined then the catastrophe that has ensured. the catastrophe that has ensued. invaded iraq?