this is bbc news. the headlines at 11:00pm: a nine—year—old child is amongst five british people who have tested positive for the coronavirus at a french ski resort. more than 200 people are being flown to the uk from the chinese city at the centre of the outbreak, and will arrive at raf brize norton tomorrow morning. bursts of automatic gunfire at a thailand shopping mall, as at least 21 people are now known to have been killed by a gunman who is still at large. gusts of 63 mph already in stornoway, and ba cancels dozens of flights tomorrow. there are severe weather warnings

as storm ciara approaches from the atlantic. exit polls in ireland's general election suggest a three—way tie between the prime minister's fine gael and two rival parties. england reignite their six nations title hopes after beating scotland, but wales were beaten by ireland. and we will be taking an in—depth look at the papers with our reviewers, jo phillips and nigel nelson. stay with us for that.

in the last hour, a member of the thai security forces has become the 21st person killed by a soldier who went on a shooting spree with an assault rifle. special forces have stormed a shopping centre in the city of nakhon ratchasima, also known as korat, where the gunman is believed to be holed up. in the last few hours, a number of casualties have been brought out of the complex and rushed to ambulances. it is still not clear how many people remain inside the shopping centre tonight. this is the scene live. a series of explosions and gunshots have been reported in the past 30 minutes. armed officers remain outside the building as the operation to locate and disarm the gunman continues. we will bring you the latest as it this story develops. our south—east asia correspondent jonathan head sent this report.

panicked shoppers scatter in the city centre shopping mall as they hear news that a gunman is inside, shooting people. outside, the sound of repeated shots stuns passing motorists. some of them are struck by the flying bullets. this is the start of what was to be a long and terrifying day in nakhon ratchasima. security cameras picks up the chilling image of a well armed assailant, a serving soldier, walking calmly through them all. the gunman has been identified as an army sergeant major. earlier, he had killed his commanding officer and stolen weapons and ammunition from an army base before moving the mall. his motive for this attack is still unclear. police and army units surrounded them all for five hours before officers from a special police squad moved in, allowing

hundreds of trapped bystanders to run out to safety —— the mall. gun crimes are not uncommon in thailand, but a shooting on this scale by one man is something horribly new. five british people including a nine—year—old child have been diagnosed with coronavirus in the french alps. they were all staying in the same chalet at a ski resort in the savoire region. meanwhile, a final evacuation flight of british people has left china and will land in the uk early tomorrow morning. here is our medical correspondent fergus walsh. it isa it is a long way from wuhan, yet this ski resort in france now has a cluster of coronavirus cases. it appears the source was a british man who been in singapore, and while in the area, visit the chalets of ii

other britons. five were infected, including a nine—year—old child. all are in hospital, none seriously ill. translation: we are trying to chase where the ii translation: we are trying to chase where the 11 people from the chalets have been throughout their stay, and above all find the people they have beenin above all find the people they have been in close contact with. tracing close contacts of those infected with coronavirus is vital if the outbreak is to be controlled. the british man, who is from brighton, was diagnosed on thursday and is in isolation in st thomas‘s hospital in london. after getting his travel history, health officials contacted the ski resort where he had been staying. prior to that, the ski resort where he had been staying. priorto that, he the ski resort where he had been staying. prior to that, he had attended a business conference in singapore, where he was infected with the virus. singapore now has a0 reported cases. it has raised its alert level to orange, the same as

in the sars outbreak in 2003, indicating the virus is spreading their between people. it now has the second—highest number of outside china. there are nearly 80 britons on board this cruise ship, which remains quarantined off yokohama in japan, after dozens of passengers tested positive for the coronavirus. among them, helen steel, on his honeymoon. he is doing well in hospital —— alan steel. those on board are hospital —— alan steel. those on boa rd a re mostly hospital —— alan steel. those on board are mostly confined to their cabins. all passengers are allowed on deck, 50 at a time, deck by deck, so on deck, 50 at a time, deck by deck, so it is about once every three days we get about an hour or 90 minutes to stretch our legs on deck. in wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, a second new hospital has opened, built injust outbreak, a second new hospital has opened, built in just two weeks. this is wuhan airport, where more than 200 passengers, mainly british, boarded the final uk repatriation

flight. it boarded the final uk repatriation flight. it is due to arrive at raf brize norton in oxfordshire early tomorrow, and then the britons will be taken to a conference centre in milton keynes to be quarantined for 14 milton keynes to be quarantined for ia days. there have been 81 new reported deaths in china's hubei province today, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak. that takes the death toll in hubei to 780. meanwhile, chinese authorities have introduced strict new rules to try to control the spread of the virus. in the capital, there is a ban on group dining, and other cities are limiting how many family members can leave home each day. stephen mcdonell has the latest from beijing. wuhan, the city at the heart of china's coronavirus emergency, is struggling to cope with the size of this crisis.

there are not enough beds. there is not enough equipment. hospitals have been swamped by the sick, who need to be placed in isolation. faced with an explosion of infections, two massive quarantine centres were constructed, each in less than two weeks. days ago, the i,000—bed mountain fire god facility was opened. now, patients are also being brought to the new mountain thunder god hospital, adding another 1,300 beds. translation: what we're measuring is the net pressure difference in the room. it can make sure the wind outside is blowing into the ward, to prevent the infection source from going out. across the world, there is considerable concern this outbreak has a long way to go before being stabilised. chinese cities are introducing ever more harsh measures to try and control the spread of the disease. in hong kong, residents returning from mainland china are to spend two weeks in quarantine. foreigners must remain

inside hotels or special government—run facilities. those who don't comply are being threatened with prison time. stephen mcdonell, bbc news, beijing. and we will find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages in our second review at 11:30pm this evening in the papers. our reviewers are the political commentatorjo phillips and nigel nelson, political editor of the sunday mirror and sunday people. heavy rain and strong winds have started to batter the uk, with significant disruption expected tomorrow. storm ciara is forecast to bring wind speeds of up to 80 mph. british airways say they have already cancelled dozens of flights coming into heathrow and gatwick tomorrow. rail passengers are being asked to travel only if absolutely necessary. our correspondent richard galpin says it will cause a lot of disruption tomorrow.

we will bring you an update on that. we're going to speaking to helen willits to find out the latest live tracking of storm ciara at the end of the bulletin, so do stay tuned. and if you want to find out more about how storm ciara is affecting your area, tune into your local bbc radio station or head to our website, bbc.co.uk/weather. we will be covering storm ciara right here on bbc news as well. the polls have closed in the irish general election. the current irish prime minister, leo varadkar, has been trying to win a third term for his

party in government. but according to exit polls, the three main political parties have tied in first preference votes. our correspondent emma vardy has this update from dublin. well, the exit polls suggest things are looking very tight indeed. it predicts that leo varadkar‘s fine gael party are tied with their opponents, fianna fail, and it is impossible to decide who will determine the next government. counting takes place the following day and it is highly likely after that the coalition negotiations will begin between the parties, and that will be where things really get down to the nitty—gritty. coalitions are the norm here in ireland. now, the current prime minister, leo varadkar, has had a very high international profile over the last three years as island's youngest

ever prime minister. he has had huge influence in the brexit negotiations. if it is his opponents, fianna fail, who form the next government, then it will be their leader, michael martin, who becomes the next irish prime minister. now, the other big story of the night is there looks to be some major breakthroughs for sinn fein, major gains forthem. a some major breakthroughs for sinn fein, major gains for them. a big successful night for them, if that exit poll is to be proved correct. now, this is the first time that a general election in ireland has been held on a saturday. leo varadkar said he wanted it on a saturday to prevent their being school closures and to give more people the chance to get out and vote. people have had to get out and vote. people have had to brave the weather of storm ciara to brave the weather of storm ciara to go and cast their ballots, but now all eyes will be on those negotiations after the results are counted tomorrow. four rare mountain gorillas, including a pregnant female, have died in uganda

after being hit by lightning, a conservation group says. the three adult females and a male infant were found in uganda's mgahinga national park with gross lesions on their bodies, indicating electrocution. there are just over 1,000 mountain gorillas in existence. earlier i spoke to journalist jack losh, who has been following nearby gorillas in south—western uganda, and he explained what a devastating loss this incident is to the conservation effort. it's a very sad moment for the conservation community. if we go back to the i980s, there were just 250 of these iconic primates left in the world. over the next few decades, through a combination of local engagement, national efforts and transnational partnerships, the number today now stands over i,000 mountain gorillas, moving them from critically endangered to endangered.

this sad news happened just a few days ago, when four gorillas in mgahinga national park in southern uganda were struck by lightning. now, this is a very sad moment because this park only has one permanent family there. this family had recently moved over from rwanda, and among the four gorillas that were killed were three females, obviously child—bearing and crucial for sustaining the population, and one of the females was actually pregnant at the time. and do we know if the rest of the family group are doing ok? because they often do go around in groups, don't they? that's right, mountain gorillas live together in families. the good news is that conservationists are saying that the rest of the family are fine. they're continuing to graze and feed upon this highland vegetation as normal. but that doesn't mean these gorillas are completely out of the woods. even though they've moved

from critically endangered to endangered, the global population based in central africa still remains fragile. and, as the climate crisis intensifies and temperatures rise, they're going to face increasing threats. this could damage their food supplies, this could increase the risk of disease transmission, particularly from humans to gorillas, and it could impact their habitat, as humans look for more food sources in the forest. so, while it's good news that the gorilla population has continued to grow, a lot more still has to be done to really sustain and secure their numbers going into the future. has something like this happen before? i mean, when we talk about the drc and the jungle there, you before? i mean, when we talk about the drc and thejungle there, you do get some pretty extreme weather, don't you? i have been in one of those lightning storms before, and they are pretty frightening. strange thing was, just a few hours before these gorillas were killed, i had emerged out of the forest myself. i

was there on assignments. and we we re was there on assignments. and we were caught the same electrical storm, and it was extremely powerful. in fact, storm, and it was extremely powerful. infact, one storm, and it was extremely powerful. in fact, one of the lightning bolts struck the building that we were sheltering in, it struck the corrugated metal roof we we re struck the corrugated metal roof we were sheltering under. and quite a dramatic fireball exploded from it and went up into the sky. so of course these tropical storms are prevalent here. right now, we should be in the dry season, and pretty much all i have encountered in this south—western corner of uganda has been a lot of torrential rain, which isa been a lot of torrential rain, which is a worrying sign of climate change here. so while the main threats to these gorillas are poaching, habitat destruction, wildlife trafficking, we can potentially, as weather patterns here change and become more extreme, this may not be a i—off. and conservationists will be looking at ways to mitigate these risks going into the future. sport and a full round up

from the bbc sport centre with katy. mixed fortunes in the six nations today. we'll start with the six nations and ireland have ended welsh hopes of back—to—back grand slam titles. it's after they beat the reigning champions 2a—ia in dublin before the weather closed in on murrayfield, where england battled to a wet and windy victory over scotland in the calcutta cup, as adam wild reports. in dublin it was deafening. drums, the fireworks. you the storm had arrived early. ireland were the first to raise the roof. wales are the reigning champions and thomas williams ended a move that showed why they have come to be so dominant among the six nations. but ireland have been almost unstoppable at home in recent years. there was absolutely no stopping for long here. it was a lead they would not

let go. conway with ireland's final score and wales defeated at last. ireland it now seems to be the team to beat this year. england were greeted in scotland by a barrage of bagpipes and booms. their arrival staring once more this most enduring of rivals. the history with the hostility quite unlike any other. but for both the physicist foe they faced came from above. the wind and rain added to the stormy atmosphere but certainly not to the entertainment. a single penalty, england's, was all the first half could offer. scores levelled through the boot of scotland's hastings lifting the murrayfield gloom for a few moments. with conditions worsening both sides now clinging on by theirfingertips worsening both sides now clinging on by their fingertips and any control ha rd to by their fingertips and any control hard to find. better to keep the ball in hand. and it finally played off to the games decisive score. it

was an ugly victory for england but it was the victory that mattered. in today's premier league games, everton moved up to seventh with a 3—1 win over crystal palace, while it finished i—i between brighton and watford. when they took over everton they we re when they took over everton they were idling against relegation. two months on they are targeting a european spot. they lostjust once in the league in ten games and they had the lead on this one thanks to some brilliance from burnout in an otherwise poor first half. some brilliance from burnout in an otherwise poorfirst half. before today, christian had not scored since last april. so you can imagine his relief when he pulled palace level. he may have to think pickford for this one later. but palace's reprieve lasted less than eight minutes as the wrist lead was restored. and they added another

with minutes remaining. dominic tapping in to make the point safe. the aim for everton must now be real but as for palace, they face an uncomfortable winter break, looking over their shoulders. and the other game finished one or between brighton and watford. watford took the lead midway through the first half thanks to this strike. but brighton equalised with 15 minutes to go — adrian mariappa with a moment to forget, as he put it into his own net. watford could have moved out of the relegation with a win, instead, they stay in the bottom three, with brighton in 15th. in the scottish cup, rangers are through to the quarter—finals after thrashing hamilton a—i. a flurry of second half goals quickly ended the tie, scot arfield's second of the game was this screamer from range in injury time as well to secure their place

in the next round. inverness through to the after knocking out livingston. st johnstone won and replays are required in the two all premiership ties. nottingham forest have moved to within one point of the automatic promotion places. they defeated leeds to kneel at the city ground. and they sealed the win later on with tyler walker and a tap in. leads stay in the top two but have won just six of the lastly games. terri harper has become the wbc world super—featherweight

world champion tonight, beating eva wahlstrom in sheffield. in what was only harper's 10th professionalfight, the 23—year—old was a clear winner, scoring a knock—down in the seventh round. all three judges gave her the win as harper becomes britain's only professional female world champion. in the main event on the same bill as harper, kell brook's return to the ring after 1a months away ended with a victory. the former welterweight world champion knocked out mark deluca in the seventh round. brook has only lost twice in a a0—fight career. onto some disappointing news as great britain's fed cup team have lost their qualifier against slovakia. they started the day 2—0 down in the five rubber match. heather watson had got them off to a good start as she beat rebecca sramkova. that meant that harriet dart needed to beat anna schmiedlova. but it wasn't to be. dart lost the first set on a tie—break and saved 2 match points in the second,

before finally being beaten. so slovakia are through to the inauguralfinals in budapest, but for gb, it's back to a qualifier for next year's competition. and great britain's hopes of qualifying with a women's basketball team for this summer's olympic games look to be over, after they lost to south korea in serbia. victory for britain would have secured them a place in tokyo, but they lost by 82 points to 79. they face spain tomorrow. that's all of the sport. you can find more on these stories on the bbc sport website. women now hold more positions, up

from 12% on boards. but there is still a lack of women in senior and executive roles. my name is francesca. i sit on the boards of several companies including air france, and an investment trust. even with her background as a successful business leader, getting her first boardroom position was difficult. it is an area where men often usually outnumber women. change is painful. there is a huge value attributed to chemistry on the board and of course chemistry, you have mainly with people like yourself. she says boards without enough women are putting themselves ata enough women are putting themselves at a disadvantage. it does not reflect your customer base and it does not reflect society at large nor your staff. the government has backed voluntary targets to increase the representation of women on the boards of the biggest listed

customers —— companies in the country to one in three by the end of the year. it is february and that target has now been achieved for the top 100 companies do not yet for the next 250 and is far from job done. they said is a very good start but as we can see there are still many issues in the workplace to address and we have much further to go before we see, really, a big gender balance in the leadership british business. francesco welcomes the latest boardroom target being hit that she worries getting enough women at the top table remains a long way off. tomorrow is the biggest night in hollywood as the stars gear up night in hollywood as the stars gear upfor night in hollywood as the stars gear up for the oscars the list of nominees has once again come under scrutiny for being too white. and, for some categories, too male. the

film director spike lee will present tomorrow and he sat down with our a rts tomorrow and he sat down with our arts edit or talk about hollywood diversity and female directors. the oscars. what you make of the line—up this year? the oscars. what you make of the line-up this year? not like last year. and i said this last year, to not expect six african—americans to win oscars next year. and it will be a struggle and the struggle continues. why does it continue to bea continues. why does it continue to be a struggle? because power does not give up power easily. it goes to the studios. they are gatekeepers and we have seen more diversity amongst the gatekeepers than have a great effect amongst the oscars. a

greater effect. happening at the moment? the gatekeepers? no, no. this is a business. hollywood is a business. art does not always come ahead of business. and what is that hollywood businesslike at the moment? post hashtag me too? is it changing all the same old same old? same old thing. perhaps dressed up differently. many women are making good movies. a lot more than they're worth. they're still not up to parity. but even this year there have been notable movies made by women but no recognition. what is going on? get in line. i am not saying that to make light of it. it is obvious that there is work that

still needs to be done. spike lee there, speaking to our arts editor will gompertz. the uk is bracing itself for storm ciara. let's get the latest on this. helen, many people on social media are waiting for storm at an mac. how bad is it going to be? it is a big storm. it is powerful and it is dangerous. it will give some exceptionally windy weather and it is unusual because it will be so widespread across the uk. the most powerful one we have had and so widely this season but for some parts like in a way as it is a once 01’ parts like in a way as it is a once or twice in a decade occurrence. as you can see, setting the scene behind me is very windy weather already very windy out there ahead of the storm because we have seen

weather fronts going through. it is a double—edged storm because it is windy and you can see those tightly packed isobars here on the weather chart behind me affecting the whole of the uk along with very wet. lashing down in parts of scotland, northern ireland, northern and western parts of england and wales. clearly our main concern is for the severity of the wind in the severe gales widespread across england and wales. the amber warming —— warning from the met office encompasses that. we can see not only the disruption but damage from flying debris and trees. and it is also wet and that rain will continue to fall through the night. there is an amber warning for parts of southern scotla nd warning for parts of southern scotland and concern for the rivers here. there are numerous storm —— flood warnings out as well. went for most of us and away from the north we have the wind and the rain and the wind is not even reached a peak overnight. the wind will continue to escalate through the day on sunday.

these are the sort of wind speed that we anticipate. although the amber across england and wales it is equally windy elsewhere. the four may be greatest in the highly populated areas. look at the details we go through here is our amber warning that lapses mid—morning is the main rain clears away but there is still a concern for flooding on the shelves will give a lot of flooding in a short space of time, snowmobiles, thunder and potentially wind in excess of 80 mile an hour as we head towards the late afternoon through the central lowland borders so through the central lowland borders soa through the central lowland borders so a stormy day. and a stormy day further south as well. patterns of rain with their wind and that is when we will realise those gusts, even inland across england and wales of 80 mile an hour, quite unusual those sorts of speeds, actually and hence the concern that this is a dangerous storm, exceptionally windy weather. we have everything transport disruption and we also have high spring tides. large waves

because