The World Health Organization says we could be heading towards a Tipping Point in the coronavirus outbreak. Its warned countries to act quickly as new clusters of cases are confirmed outside china. The organisations head says the worlds opportunity to contain it is narrowing. Although the window of opportunity is narrowing to contain the outbreak, we still have a chance to contain it. But while doing that, we have to prepare at the same time for any eventualities because this outbreak could go any direction. It could even be messy. Its in our hands now. If we do well within the narrow window of opportunity, we can reverse or avert any serious crisis. In south korea, there are a hundred new cases of the virus and the countrys second death has been confirmed. Meanwhile, british passengers whove been quarantined onboard the diamond princess cruise ship off japan for over two weeks have finally been allowed to disembark. Around 35 britons whove tested negative for the virus are now flying back to the uk. Rupert Wingfield Hayes reports from japan. They have had to wait longer than almost anyone else to get off the diamond princess, but tonight, finally, after 17 days of isolation, the british passengers were loaded onto buses and began their long journey home. On board one of the buses, Elaine Spencer and her husband. Before they left their cabin, they recorded this thank you message. Thank you to the government for deciding to bring us home. We are coming home, we are seeing our family, and we cant wait, but also in a way it is strange, it feels like it has been our home for all that time. Thank you. Hopefully we are going to be home and i will see my family or ourfamilies, in the next couple of weeks. Bye bye. Bye bye. Nearby in his cabin, alan sanford told me he and his wife are feeling the strain of such a long confinement. We have not stepped out of this cabin since we were quarantined on 4 february, and it is now sort of the 21st, even though the quarantine on the ship is over, were going to go on an aeroplane, get to the wirral, and do another 1a days of quarantine. Thats going to make about 31 days altogether. We are going to have to deal with that, i mean, theres a lot of people worse off than that in the world but, wow, the thought we are only halfway through it. It may seem a little unfair that the british passengers leaving the ship tonight are now going to have to spend another 1a days in quarantine when they get back to the uk, having spent two weeks or more shut in their cabins on board the ship. But what we have seen with the americans, and now the australians, is that some of the passengers whove tested negative for the virus when they left the ship, are now testing positive when theyve got back home. 164 australians flew back to darwin on wednesday. Two of them have now tested positive for the virus, and been sent to hospital. As you know, we carefully screened everybody before they left the ship, before they got on the plane and during the flight, but as people also know, there has been ongoing detection of infection on the diamond princess cruise ship over the last few days, so it is not unexpected that some people might have been incubating the virus. Meanwhile, in south korea, the number of cases of the virus has leapt and a second death has been reported. The outbreak is thought to have begun at this church, in the city of daegu. The streets of the city are now empty, and a massive disinfecting operation is under way. For more on the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, head to our website. Thats at bbc. Com news where you can follow the links. Alternatively you can download the bbc news app. Russia has been told to stay out of american elections by one of the frontrunners for the Democratic Partys president ial nomination, Bernie Sanders. The senator was responding to reports that us officials have warned that russia is trying to interfere to help his campaign. Earlier, President Trump dismissed russian interference claims as a hoax. Our washngton correspondent Chris Buckler told me more about how this alleged interference has been that russia tried to interfere in middle and the us president ial election in 2016 and in a briefing last week to members of congress, they warned that russia was doing the same thing again in 2020. They havent been specific about exactly how this is happening but it seems to be a disinformation campaign, essentially getting involved on the internet and trying to sow division, which might be why they are actually trying to help the campaigns of two people who are political polar opposites in terms of american politics the very conservative donald trump and the very liberal and progressive senator Bernie Sanders. As you mentioned donald trump has been very dismissive of this whole idea, in fact so dismissive that he got rid of the acting director of national intelligence, such apparently was his fury at this being handed out and information being given to members of the Democratic Pa rtys part of congress who were consulted about this. On the other hand we had a very different response from Bernie Sanders. The senator has released a statement saying he acknowledges some russian interference. He says he also went on to talk about the fact that some of what he described as ugly stuff on the internet thats been attributed to his campaign has not come from him. Instead he says its likely to have come from russia and more specifically, vladimir putin. Let me just say a word about russia. Mr putin is a thug, he is an autocrat, he may be a friend of donald trump but is not a friend of mine. Let me tell mr putin. The american people, whether republicans, democrats or independents are sick and tired of seeing russia and other countries interfering in our elections. The Intelligence Community has been very clear about it, whether trump recognises it or not or acknowledges it or not, they did interfere in 2016, the Intelligence Community is telling us they are interfering in this campaign right now in 2020. And what i say to mr putin, if elected president , trust me, you are not going to be interfering in american elections. Chris, in 2016, russia was accused of interfering in order to favour donald trump. Now in 2020, its been accused of interfering to favour trumps potential opponent Bernie Sanders. How does that work . I understand some people are going to be a bit confused by this, but actually what seems to have been suggested is that they are interfering to try and support both Bernie Sanders and donald trump. And if you think about it, in america, this country has been split by this presidency, its caused a great deal of division. It is actually pretty much split down the middle between those who are fans of donald trump and those who are against him. And the suggestion from the Intelligence Services here is actually what is happening is russia is involving itself in both campaigns, trying to really cause more division, really trying to sell yet more discord as this country prepares for an election. Sow. In the argument potentially coming forward is that as far as they are concerned, that could be good for russia, it could create more destabilising influences in america. We should say russia deny this entirely and beyond that, donald trump continues to make an argument that actually there is no way they would be supporting him, although he did seem to suggest earlier at a rally in las vegas that perhaps they might want to support Bernie Sanders given they had that he had honeymooned in the soviet union. Lets get some of the days other news. Jurors in the Sexual Assault trial of the american Film Producer Harvey Weinstein have ended four days of deliberations. The judge has instructed the jury to resume talks on monday. Earlier, the jurors asked judgejames burke if they could give split decisions on two of the most serious charges. He directed them to continue to seek unanimity. Voting has ended in parliamentary elections in iran, after polling was extended several times to allow latecomers to cast their ballots. The field of candidates is dominated by conservatives and ha rdliners loyal to the Supreme Leader ayatollah ali khamenei. The authorities banned thousands of moderate would be candidates from running. Queen elizabeths grandson prince harry and his wife meghan have dropped plans to use the brand name sussex royal once they step back from their formal duties at the start of april. The couple announced last month that they wished to pursue a life outside of britain. Theyve also said they will stand down from royal duties and work towards financial independence. An agreement on a week long reduction in hostilities has come into effect in afghanistan. The deal was reached between american and taliban negotiators after more than a year of talks. If the truce holds, the two sides will begin the first phase of a process aimed at bringing an end to the 18 year conflict. Dhruva jaishankar is with the independent analysis think tank Observer Research foundation, in washington. He says theres no guarantee that a lasting agreement will eventually be reached. Well, i think we should be very cautious about this. Its a welcome first step. The reduction in violence is really in some ways a step over the next seven days as to whether both sides could really hold their ends of the bargain, whether their interpretation of what constitutes a reduction of violence agreement would actually overlap significantly with each other. The taliban has not held direct talks am i right with the Afghan Government itself . Is that likely to happen . That would be another step. One of the things weve in last year 01 so is some concern in fact, anger in many situations as has been the case in kabul, with the United States and us negotiators, for seemingly working around kabul in terms of negotiating directly with the taliban. Those bridges seem to have been mended a little bit over the last few weeks in fact, the president of afghanistan welcomed in recent steps in the does seem to be a bit more Co Ordination now, but i think we are still in a stage where all the major parties involved, the us government, the Afghan Government that has been elected and the taliban are themselves all very divided about how to progress, how to proceed. Is the taliban prepared to share power in afghanistan or would it want to go back to where it was in 2001 where it had almost complete territorial control of the country . Well, one taliban leader recently articulated in the opinion pages of the New York Times what he saw as a path forward. There are many reasons to take that with many grains of salt. He himself was deputy leader of the taliban, known for being one of the most notorious warlords, of the Haqqani Network you represent, one that the us he represents, was one that the us fought so fiercely against, and they were successful against those forces in afghanistan. So there is a great deal of scepticism about what kind of government the taliban would like to see, they have said, whether they can keep their promises and whether again everyone within the taliban is on the same page as to how to proceed. Stay with us on bbc news. Still to come a stranger in the neighbourhood. The wild bear taking a stroll through the california suburbs. Nine years and 15,000 deaths after going into afghanistan, the last soviet troops were finally coming home. The withdrawal completed in good order, but the army defeated in the task it had been sent to perform. Malcolm has been murdered. That has a terrible effect on the morale of the people. I am terrified of the repercussions on the streets. One wonders who is next. As the airlift got under way, there was no let up in the eruption itself. Lava streams from a vent low in the crater flow down to the sea on the east of the island, away from the town for the time being, but it could start flowing again at any time. The russians heralded their new Generation Space station with a spectacular night launch. They called it mir, the russian for peace. This is bbc news. The latest headlines more Coronavirus Infections have been detected outside china, notably in the middle east. The World Health Organization has warned the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. Lets stay with that now. Here is professor michael baker, who is a Public Health expert at the university of otago in new zealand. I think for the last three weeks, this infection, this epidemic, has been on a trajectory to become a pandemic, and its been widely expected that wed start to see a pattern like this. You have a transmission where people have something, maybe a mild cold or no symptoms in some cases, are transmitting the virus very widely. And its only when someone whos really vulnerable is infected that they develop pneumonia and get tested. And this seems to be a pattern now that were seeing in these new cases. For non scientists, hearing the word pandemic can be slightly scary. What does a pandemic actually involve . It basically means very widespread transmission, some would say global transmission, and thats a pattern were starting to see. And many epidemiologists have been writing for around two or three weeks to say that the characteristics of this infection have all the hallmarks of a pandemic. So its widely transmissible, its highly transmissible and very hard to control, as we see, because huge efforts are going in to try to contain it, and theyre not accessible. We have seen reported cases in iran, in south korea. What kind of pattern might you be able to detect here . Well, this is consistent with that pattern of silent transmission, and cases just appearing, again as Vulnerable People are infected. So wed expect to see more of that continuing pattern. And unfortunately in low income countries, where theyve got fewer resources to test for the virus, there may be lots of silent transmission occurring before cases are being detected. This would mean africa or poorer countries in asia. What kind of places would cause scientists most concern . All of those places you mention. They are less able to manage people who are very sick, particularly in very large numbers. And briefly, are chinas quarantine measures, the ones weve seen so much in the last few weeks, do you consider those measures to be working, from your point of view . They are clearly not working, but they have given the world a bit more breathing room. Clearly it has reduced the speed of transmission from china. But there are so many links to china in terms of workers going backwards and forwards, that the virus has now been seeded very widely. Were going to see more of this exponential increase. Democratic party voters in the state of nevada are to decide on saturday who they would prefer to be the candidate to take on donald trump in novembers president ial election, and after a spirited debate this week in las vegas, the candidates are competing for every last vote, as sophie long reports. 20 years ago, i sell tacos on the streets. Looking for a better life. So youve come a long way, right . Yeah after 20 years, this is my dream, you know . Mauricio now co owns two restaurants and has created around a0 jobs. But he says he and people like him get no support from the current president. What do you think about the guy who owns that tower . I want a different president to him, because were looking for a better life not only for the mexican community, just for all the races, you know . He wants a different president , but hasnt decided who that should be. Autie is unsure too. I dont watch too much politics. But i think the next president , he has to do a betterjob, you know . To save our country, to make a better place for everybody. The number of latinx voters in las vegas, nevada and across the United States is growing significantly. About 4 million have turned 18 since 2016, and will have the opportunity to vote in a president ial election for the first time. The impact they could have on the election in november could be extraordinary, if candidates could get them to vote. How do they do that . Well, not totally ignoring them is a good start. In 2018, 43 of all eligible latino voters received no communication from a campaign or political party. When campaigns and candidates elect to not communicate at all with our community about anything, even about the things that they think that we care about it makes it harder for us to evaluate which candidate to support, to show up and vote at all, right . Well, this time, campaigns have spent thousands on Spanish Language tv ads. Bernie sanderss campaign has spent millions on its latino Outreach Programme in nevada alone. But are they making an impact . I like bernie a lot. I think you know, i think hes the best, for me, the best candidate. So which candidate do you like . Bernie sanders because . Because i think he has better ideas for spanish people. Saturdays caucus will be the first indication of what people think in this racially diverse state. Trump waint that bad to me. He is, though i mean, he doesnt know how to put his stuff in words the right way. Hes politically incorrect, but hes about business. Hes about money. At the end of the day, hes about business. Sophie long, bbc news, las vegas. A woman who supported Islamic State has admitted to attempting to blow herself up in front of simples cathedral. She pleaded guilty to planning an act of terrorism by asking an act of terrorism by asking an Undercover Police officer to supply bombs. British police have charged a man with grievous bodily harm and possession of a bladed weapon in connection with the stabbing ofa in connection with the stabbing of a prayer leader at the London Central mosque on thursday. The prayer leader has been discharged from hospital. Bollywoods first film featuring a gay lead character has been released in cinemas. Donald trump called the news great. The president retweeted the news about the film. Upon seeing the president s endorsement, the films director, hitesh kewalya, responded, wow the film, which translates to be extra careful about marriage, stars popular actor Ayushmann Khurrana as an openly gay man who clashes with his conservative parents over his boyfriend. Archaeologists in italy say they have uncovered a sarcophagus in the remains of an ancient temple in rome which may belong to romulus, the figure who is said to have founded the city along with his twin brother, remus. The stone tomb, along with its circular altar, dates from the sixth century bc. Rich preston has the story. It is a 2,500 year old mystery that might might have been solved. Beneath romes highest hill, is this the tomb of the once great romulus, father of rome . Translation romulus is a person who founded rome. He gave life to the city. Its thanks to him that the roman people were formed. The tomb was first found under the capitoline hill, inside the old roman forum, at the start of the last century but was then lost. Translation we forgot the place and the precise location during these 120 years, and therefore thought we would not find it intact. So for us to find it was a great discovery, to find it exactly has described. Legend says romulus, son of the god mars, founded the city of rome in the year 753 bc. But it came at a cost. In the battle for the city, he killed his twin brother, remus. But experts say we might be getting ahead of ourselves. No bones were found inside. Translation we cant say its the tomb of romulus. We dont have any scientific evidence. We only have a room inside that has been preserved in front of the curia. So the fact that its been preserved makes us understand that this is an important place. And, depending on your beliefs, romulus was either transported up to heaven or torn to pieces by his own senators, jealous of his powers. Translation romuluss body is not there. We have to imagine this is a place of memory, a cenotaph. The citys first king for nearly 3,000 years, nothing more than a legend with a cult following. Now, maybe, a physical memorial at last to this ancient citys beloved, if not possibly mythical, founder. Rich preston, bbc news. Residents in an upmarket Californian Community have received a somewhat unwelcome guest, a wild black bear. The animal, weighing nearly 200 kg, could be seen wandering around the streets and gardens of monrovia, a town near los angeles. The bbcs tim allman takes up the story. Believe it or not, this isnt exactly an uncommon sight round these parts. Monrovia backs onto the Angeles National forest, so black bears do occasionally take a stroll through the neighbourhood. Stroll being the operative word. This particular animal, described by wildlife officials as an old lady, seemed to be in no particular hurry. From driveways to gardens, she sauntered very much at her own speed. That laid back attitude seemed to be infectious. No one seemed too perturbed. Capturing the moment on camera seemed to be the priority for some. And it was hard to work out who was the more ferocious. A big black bear, or some slightly smaller animals. The local police were alerted and said they were monitoring the situation, adding that the California Department of fish and wildlife were on their way. Eventually they arrived, and the bear was tranquilised and taken away for a checkup. Assuming she is ok, she will be returned to the wild. In the meantime, someone may need to buy a new sign. A reminder of our top story more Coronavirus Infections have been detected outside china, notably in the middle east. The World Health Organization has warned the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. More on that story on our website. Stay with us. Hello there. Some of us should see some sunshine this weekend, but its looking decidedly unsettled again. Well have plenty of showers around. Some of these will be heavy, theyll be of snow across the north of the country, and for most of us, particularly today, its going to be very windy, with pretty widespread gales. You can see why. The pressure chart shows lots of isobars on the charts right across the country. A couple of weather fronts working their way southwards across england and wales, lots of showers packing into the north and the west of the uk. So it could start quite grey on saturday, with bands of rain spreading south eastwards. Most of them should clear away by the afternoon and we should see sunshine and showers, most of these showers across western areas, the odd heavy one, and plenty of snow showers across scotland. Now, the winds a feature, 40, 50 mph gusts quite widely, 60 mph for Northern England and northern ireland, up to 70 mph in exposure in the north and west of scotland. Heavy snow showers will continue to pile through significant accumulations on the hills, and there will be blizzards as well when you factor in the strength of the winds. Cold in the north but mild in the south, 10 13 there through the the afternoon. As we head through saturday evening and overnight, we continue with the snow showers in the north. Further accumulations down the hills, and we see a ripple in that weather front, which will push some rain back northwards to parts of northern ireland. But quite a bit into england and wales, particularly across western areas. Again itll be milder in the south, cold in the north, with some risk of ice. Sunday, this weather front will be slow to clear from england and wales through the day. Eventually it will do, so its a slow improvement. Quite a wet morning, i think, for many parts of england and wales. Slowly, though, the skies will brighten up and cloud will come back across southern counties of england towards the channel. Also, sunshine developing on further showers across scotland also begin. Again, these will be wintry over the high ground. This is going to be another chilly day in the north, mild across southern counties of england. That brief ridge of High Pressure will settle things down for a while later on sunday, early into monday, is short lived. This next deep area of low pressure will hurtle in on monday and bring a spell of severe gales and snow. Some of the snow could be disruptive across the far north of england, the central belt of scotland, for the monday morning rush. It will transfer north and revert back to rain as temperatures lift a little bit. Widespread gales and severe gales in the north, further south, a belt of a rain sweeping east across england and wales, with sunshine following on behind, maybe one or two showers. Again, temperatures 10 12 degrees in the south, feeling cold in the north. This is bbc news, the headlines theres been a growing number of Coronavirus Infections outside china, notably in the middle east. Theres been a sudden spike in cases in italy, linked to a bar. The head of the World Health Organization has warned that the window of opportunity to contain the virus is narrowing. The frontrunner for the Democratic Partys president ial nomination, Bernie Sanders, has told russia to stay out of american elections. Earlier President Trump dismissed as a hoax reports of warnings by Us Intelligence that moscow was helping mr Sanders Campaign in an effort to get mr trump re elected. A tentative seven day reduction in hostilities has come into effect in afghanistan, after an agreement between american and taliban negotiators. If the agreement holds, the two sides will sign a further deal on security guarantees next saturday. That could pave the way for new talks among afghan representatives
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.