we begin tonight's show in new hampshire on the day of america's first primary contest — bernie sanders is convincingly ahead in the polls. if the polls are to believed joe biden could be fighting forfourth place — with big doubts now hanging over the former frontrunner‘s campaign we'll have the latest on the coronavirus — more than 1000 people have now died — the world health organisation is calling it a very grave threat. if this virus makes it to a weaker health system, it will create havoc. the last rebel stronghold in syria is under intense bombardment from government forces. we've a new report as quentin sommerville follows families fleeing the fighting.

among them, this is the biggest exodus since the war began. and sudan says it's willing to hand over its former president, 0mar al bashir, to the international criminal court where he's wanted for war crimes. joe biden‘s been the front—runner to be the democratic presidential nominee for a long while. but now he's under severe pressure. new hampshire votes today, following on from iowa last week. it's not a question of whether biden can win — it's whether he can avoid a disaster. polls close in a few hours — bernie sanders is expected to win. and joe biden isn't sticking around — he's already heading to south carolina and looking ahead. the rest of the nation is out there,

a lot of votes to be had were going to see, but i think were going to do well in nevada and south carolina and will go from there. joe biden finished fourth in iowa has taken a huge dip in national polling. this is from quinnipiac university on january 28th. he was leading his rivals on 26%. this is a poll from monday. he's on i7% — with bernie sanders on 25%. for whatever reasons voters are turning away from joe biden. look at this — he barely filled a small hall in one campaign event in new hampshire. bernie sanders packed out a stadium. and we know what they're up against. these are donald trump supporters queuing up for hours in the icy cold in order to see the president hold his own rally in new hampshire. katty kay is following

the story in new hampshire — i asked her why things have gone so wrong forjoe biden. well, he was sitting at the top of the polls because he managed to persuade voters early on that he was the candidate who was most likely to be able to beat donald trump in november's general election. the problem is, if your argument is i can win, then you've got to win. and he did not win in iowa, he came in fourth and that has been very damaging to him and he's not going to win in new hampshire and that is also going to be damaging to him and are starting to say hold on a second, you're kind of old, the debates have not done that well, we are a little bit nervous that the guy who was looking super safe is no longer super—safe. in fact, i think we better look somewhere else. i was talking to a senior official on the biden campaign at length last night at the biden rally

and he was making the point that look, we have not really been tested in the kinds of places the democrats will need to win if the want to unseat donald trump. iowa, predominantly white state, new hampshire, predominantly white state. a big block of the democrats base is african—american and hispanic voters. and the biden‘s campaign argument is that we have to perform in a state like that to know if there really viable to take on donald trump. thank you. do not go anywhere. we have to talk about michael bloomberg, he is a billionaire businessman, the ninth richest person in the world, former new york mayor. he wants to be president too, but despite competing in new hampshire, he actually managed to win a tiny constituency in new hampshire called dixville notch, this close to the canadian border. there are only five residents in this town and when mr bloomberg was not on the ballot but that did not stop some of the ballots to make voters. the voters. you can see two of the month mr bloomberg and the only person voting on the republican side, also went for mr bloomberg even though he doesn't want

the republican nomination. of course, dixville notch isjust a curiosity but that poll that sanoe biden for i7%, well, have a look at this. mike bloomberg on 50% in the distant related to the $300 million spent on this campaign and by context, that is more that barack 0bama spent in his entire campaign in 2012 the love that money is going on tv ads like this one. bringing katty again. i suppose my question is, katty, can someone be a contender that actually appearing very much at all? it certainly looks like mike bloomberg is a contender in this race and he is taking on tools super tuesday march the 3rd win big states like new york, california, texas will vote and he is hoping, 0k, what i missed the early states that this the scrutiny that comes with those early states and i come in late and having done

a massive tv ads campaign, i played sent in a sweep of delicates and that catapults me i blitz in and i sweep delicates and that catapults me into the front running. that is his bet that he has made and he has directly benefited from something that we just talked about. the demise ofjoe biden. asjoe biden slips down to the centrist candidate, a who has run things and done things and can be the person to take on donald trump, bloomberg has been rising and it's interesting i have been talking to top democrats back in washington after the iowa caucuses happened and for the first time i was hearing them say, you know what, i'll focus on mike bloomberg, they're looking at the new hampshire primary were bernie sanders is going to do very well, those centrist democrats are still concerned that bernie sanders is too left—wing and that the majority of americans he is unelectable in november and they are looking somewhere else and where they looking increasingly, interestingly, they're

looking at mike bloomberg. and the centrists and more left—wing candidates, in terms of candidates, what are the big differences between bernie sanders and joe biden or mike bloomberg offering in the centre? as opposed to the single biggest difference in policy is on health care. the big divide is between those on the left, bernie sanders would like a health care system like the uk has an those people likejoe biden who say, we've got to fix america's health care system, but we do not want to take private health options away from americans. another thing that bernie sanders would like to do, cancel all college debt and that is something you've not heard some of the more centrist candidates say. largely, the differences are around economic issues, bernie sanders is the candidate who has the momentum here to capture and he is the one turning to a lot of people but the energy in his campaign. if it will organise campaign but the same question holds for him as it years ago, is he the person can

actually get it of moderate americans to vote for him, enough of americans to vote for him, enough of them to beat donald trump? we have a new name for the coronavirus — the world health organization has officially named it covid—i9. that's c0 for corona, the vi for virus the d for disease — and 19 because it started in 2019. the name though isn't the most pressing concern. on monday, china suffered its highest number of deaths in one day — 103 people died in hubei province alone. the overall death toll in china is now over 1,000. and more than forty thousand people have been infected worldwide. if there is any encouraging news it comes in this chart from the chinese authorities. the rate of new infections has fallen 20% day to day. nonetheless the world health 0rganisation is concerned about it spreading to developing countries.

the rate of new infections has fallen 20% day to day. nonetheless the world health 0rganisation is concerned about it spreading to developing countries. here's the latest update from the who's director general. this virus makes into a weaker health system, it will create havoc. to be honest, a virus is more powerful in creating political, economic and social upheaval than any terrorist attack. china continues to take a range of measures to try and control this virus. this is wuhan where the virus was first detected. these trucks are spraying disinfectant. this is a medical facility in the city — thousands of patients are requiring treatment. this is also in wuhan — patients and staff have been dancing to try and boost morale. and this is better news. we're told these people are being released from hospital as they have recovered from the virus. they were taken home

home in ambulances. health officials in china are warning that rural areas don't have enough equipment. they're calling for village doctors to be given face masks and medical supplies to ensure they don't become infected themselves. they may have to be patient given the pressures being exerted on the supply chains. here's more from stephen mcdonnel in beijing. crucial shortage of beds and equipment, people have been sleeping in gymnasiums and the like if they're sick, they're setting up these crude, temporary hospitals or isolation wards. temporary hospitals and so, yeah, it is very dire situation inside hubei province. but right across china, it is funny, you can see the detail out of the window behind me, there is nobody out on the streets in beijing either. people do not want to leave their homes and in a funny way, it is the way the government would like you to be because by not

having people gathering, biting some the people in the city working from home and having staggered working arrangement having people gathering, biting some the people in the city working from home and having staggered working arrangement so they are not all piling into the underground train system at the same time, it does seem to have slowed the spread of this virus. while hundreds of foreign nationals have left the epicentre of the outbreak in wuhan in hubei province, some have remained in china. doug perez, is a science and maths teacherfrom the us, who's decided to stay for the sake of his chinese girlfriend and his dog. going out, doing basic stuff is,

is kind of like a game of tetris. you really do have to stay six feet away from people so he walked outside, you are careful. you're cognizant of everything you do, everyone you interact with, you have to wear gloves, masks, etc. we mostly rely on deliveries for groceries. we stocked up and can hold out for a couple of months, still, we need fresh fruits and vegetables. sometimes you have to make a grocery run and that in and of itself poses tremendous risk. in recent days, chinese authorities have increasingly been criticised for their handling of the crisis. the death of this doctor whose early warnings were suppressed by the authorities sparked widespread public anger on social media. china has sacked several senior officials over their handling of the coronavirus outbreak. for more on that here's stephen mcdonnel again. somebody had to take the fall because there has been a lot in terms of dealing with the early fallout urgency in the city of wuhan and the province of hubei and also

the director of that providence local health commission, they are both being sacked and we do not expected to end there. now the chinese government is well aware how closely its actions are being watched around the world. on this, here's imogen foulkes at the who's headquarters in geneva. when global health matters to come up when global health matters to come up as its own entity, it's an individual cannot recognised as such

by the un bodies. information, anybody who needs support will get it, whether a public health authority vaccines specialist. this map shows the number of reported cases worldwide. japan, singapore, thailand and south korea have the most cases — and the cases injapan include those on board a cruise ship. it remains quarantined in the port of yokohama, with 135 cases confirmed. and over 3500 passengers and crew must also wait for two weeks to pass. in thailand, passengers have been prevented from disembarking from a dutch cruise ship in bangkok. here it is — it's called the westerdam — there are no confirmed infections onboard — and initially it allowed entry into port. but in reaction to protests on social media, map move that decision was reversed. bear in mind, the ship had already been turned away from ports in japan, taiwan, and the philippines. for more on why the thai authorities have been so concerned about the ship here's nopporn wong—anan from

the bbc‘s thai service. it seems that the thai authorities have changed their mind after an outcry on social media on monday. i think the main concern for the thai authorities as this, they are afraid of the repetition of the situation in thailand, like what happened in japan. now, if you look at the latest figures, japan has the highest number of coronavirus infections after china. japan has about 161 so far as of today. and 135 of them came from passengers aboard this cruise ship after japanese course, and the ship that was supposed to be coming to dock in thailand, they are owned by the same company, which is an american

company. here in the uk, this british businessman steve walsh has been centre of attention. he's thought to have infected 11 people after attending a conference in singapore. he says he's now fully recovered and that his thoughts are with those he infected. in a statement he added: i was advised to attend an isolated well, we've also been briefed by the uk health secretary matt hancock today. dealing with this disease is a marathon in it, not a sprint. the situation will get worse before it gets better. we will be guided by the science. be in no doubt, we will do everything that is effective to tackle this virus, and keep people safe. for more on how the government here in the uk is preparing for the potential spread of the virus here's our health editor hugh pym. matt hancock, the health secretary, said there would be more capital

funding, that's money for investment available for what he said would be urgent works by the nhs to invest in isolation facilities and hospitals and other facilities. now, isolation facilities and hospitals and otherfacilities. now, know sum of money has been attached to that, but i'm told by sources at the department that this is asking hospitals and other trusts, other organisations to come forward and say, this is what we need to finish off these pods that were first reported on last week, that is providing a facility if a patient comes in with suspected coronavirus, they can be isolated safely. and if it's proved negative, they can go on their way. if the test is positive, then they will go to another specialist facility to be treated. he said the whole thing globally would get worse before it got better. which is probably in line with international thinking, but he went on to say that he thought the uk was doing all it possibly could to protect its citizens and ensure the virus didn't get out of hand. much more on the coronavirus on our website.

inafew in a few minutes, we will learn how aus in a few minutes, we will learn how a usjudge has given 0k it to our merger despite democrats concerns that i could stifle competition and see rising prices. after years of delays, borisjohnson has finally given the go—ahead to one of the biggest infrastructure projects in british history —— the high speed 2 rail link. the route will connect london to birmingham, and later cities in the north of england. but the prime minister insisted exploding costs, estimated at more than a hundred billion pounds, would be brought under control. andy street, who's the conservative mayor of the west midlands,admitted that the project looked touch and go up until recently. i think it was set up an open—minded way to the side of the best way forward and we have seen lobbying on either side of it, frankly and i certainly was i completely confident

into the chancellor made his intervention two weeks ago and critically said, i have looked at the numbers and i have poured over the numbers and i have poured over the numbers and that was perhaps the decisive moment. this is 0utside source live from the bbc newsroom. 0ur lead story is? the world health 0rganisation now calls the coronavirus a very grave threat. more than 1000 people have now died. a usjudge dismissed democrats concerns today and gave the green light for a merger between t—mobile and sprint. the deal is worth $26.5 billion — the firms claim this will help reshape the us wireless industry, and build—up america's 5g networks. critics say it's only going to lead to higher prices.

new york attorney general says the deal is "a loss for every american" who relies on a cellphone. iam leading i am leading you to make reading that and i'm wondering why the spectre for every single american. we have fewer players in the market, especially in the telecoms industry, there is a concern that basically that this could become the first thing, the suffering of consumers paying more for their phones. and here's the thing. this deal has been yea rs here's the thing. this deal has been years in the making and as you pointed out, it is very contentious and we have dozens of states mounting a challenge on those lines that less competition would mean that less competition would mean that people ended up paying more in the decision was such a surprise, the decision was such a surprise, the approval that the share price of sprint is up 77% and investors were

caught off guard had it been approved and we heard from an academic who said that actually, the merger of sprint and t mobile has been criticised for this idea that he could reduce competition and might actually enhance competition because sprint controls 13% of the market, t mobile 16%. and look at its next to competitors, at&t has 40% of the market share and verizon is 30%, so the idea that you would actually create by getting two of these companies together, summed with a market share of 30, that puts them on par with the verizon and at&t at the time of the telecoms market has a lot of investment to make me think about 5g technology which is the big thing in all the companies are focusing on in the future. carbon emissions from the energy sector stopped growing in 2019. that's according to

international energy agency. this is in part thanks to advanced economies like the eu and us using less coal. in fact the use of that most polluting fossil fuel fell by between 15—25% last year. here's the head of the iea speaking to the bbc earlier. mid—market observers and scientists we re mid—market observers and scientists were expecting 2019 admissions would continue to increase but the data will be released today and that showed that in fact, admissions did not grow. they stopped growing and solar, see that in many countries in

europe and call has been replaced by natural gas and third, in some countries, we have seen increasing nuclear power. japan, korea and china. they put all of these things together and we get welcomed news, which will stop increasing in 2019. we have nowadays, discussing the

energy climate change issues. carlos acosta is one of the world's greatest ballet dancers. born in cuba, he went on to a glittering career performing for 17 years with the royal ballet. greatest ballet dancers. born in cuba, he went on to a glittering career performing

he was pretty good. it's a city that loves dance of all types, and everyday passion that he liked to bring to his new home. i really am keen to go, having talks and engaging the parents to come and really understand what ballet is about. it's a stigma, which is very ha rd to about. it's a stigma, which is very hard to break, it's a goal that so farup. hard to break, it's a goal that so far up. that means more diversity, both in his company and his audience. there is a caveat. 0ne audience. there is a caveat. one thing is clear. i think that should be compromised. here extend this. he brings ambition and vision

and a sprinkled start us, but also brings determination to take ballet two areas to wear other companies have failed to reach. will comforts, bbc news. hello. it's that time in the evening when we take a look at the weather elsewhere around the world. now, let's start in australia because the last four or five days have been exceptionally wet across some eastern parts. and that rain just keeps coming. 0n satellite picture here too, we have a tropical cyclone. now, that is likely to make its way southwards into the australian waters in the coming few days, it's going to enhance the waves. some very rough conditions coming on shore, which could enhance coastal erosion. of course, it will allow more rainfall, potentially. so you can see the forecast is a fairly wet affair. still for the foreseeable for canberra and for brisbane, some rain returning to melbourne as well. so that's clearly a concern, we will keep an eye on that. we are also looking at some very wet weather across eastern parts of africa. so anywhere really from zambia,

zimbabwe, certainly through mozambique, possibly up into kenya in the next few days. keeping on that wet theme, here we are in sao paulo, we've had exceptional amounts of rainfall here, leading to flash flooding through the course of monday. it's been very wet the last few months anyway across the east of brazil, but it certainly looks like southern and central parts of brazil will continue with that rainfall risk, heavy rainfall risk through the next couple of days. and more rain as well across southern states of the usa, not just southern states, but up to the appellations as well. so the tennessee, the mississippi valley, already the river is quite swollen, the ground saturated. we're looking at much more rain to come here through the rest of tuesday night and into wednesday. that's not the only story either. snow to relatively low levels in the south as well. new mexico, parts of texas, certainly the southern and central rockies and moving, as you can see, into the plains. and it's very cold air following behind, hence the fact that the snow will fall fairly far south as well. so some issues to come here, even some tornado activity

on that weather front. now, we've had snow in baghdad, the first for about 12 years, and more snow for turkey, the amounts in turkey to come. it's been quite cool because of the northwest shamal, but, actually, for areas that have been quite chilly across the middle east the likes of riyadh and kuwait, the temperatures will be recovering to around average, perhaps a little bit above into the latter part of the week—weekend. now, we have had really stormy weather, as we know, across parts of northwest europe. and we continue with this broad westerly wind, lots of wintry showers coming along, and then we've got yet more rain and wind waiting in the wings later wednesday into thursday. more snow for the alpine regions, and it's set to stay really very disturbed. quite settled in the south, but this is thursday's low—pressure. more rain and wind, and then this next one winds itself up even more so, to bring rain and wind across iceland in particular. and this is, or has been named storm dennis, set to bring more potentially disruptive and damaging weather across the northwest of europe. of course, there will be more on that in the next half an hour,

and of course, we've had the ample warning for the snow running today, the snow and the ice, of course, continuing through the night.

voting is well under way in new hampshire on the day of america's first primary contest — bernie sanders is convincingly ahead in the polls. if the polls are to believed joe biden could be fighting for fourth place — with big doubts now hanging over the former frontrunner‘s campaign. updating on the situation in syria. the last rebel stronghold in syria is under intense bombardment from government forces. we've a new report as quentin sommerville follows families fleeing the fighting. among them in the traffic heading north, the fatrolis family. this is the biggest exit us in syria's war began. new research suggests the amazon rainforest has started to emit more

carbon dioxide than it absorbs. here's what the brazilian scientists make of that. it could be showing the beginnings ofa it could be showing the beginnings of a major tipping point. and sudan says it's willing to hand over its former president, 0mar al bashir, to the international criminal court where he's wanted for war crimes. well let's return now to our top story — and the new hampshire primaries — where former vice presidentjoe biden is under severe pressure — he is no longer leading the national polls, and is losing momentum — fast. 0ur north america editor jon sopel has this report. not a very nice day for it. but after all the campaign stops, the campaign stops, the rallies, the polls,

the handshakes, the milkshakes, it all comes down to this. getting out the vote. in this blue—collar area of the state voting's been brisk. i just voted. i chose a democratic ticket for the first time ever. i have always liked bernie, he will put compassion back in the government. the furthest to the left of all the candidates is bernie sanders. he is attracting the biggest and most enthusiastic crowds, and is favourite to win here. we are going to defeat the most dangerous precedent we are going to defeat the most dangerous president in the modern history of america, donald trump. the other candidate to watch as the youngest, pete buttigieg. he has carried the momentum with him was out this morning meeting voters as the polling stations opened. but the former vice president, joe biden, seems to be sinking like a stone. not even hanging around for the results. he is moving to south carolina, the last state and surely his last chance saloon. but last night one man eclipsed all others in new hampshire.

thousands waited in line to listen to donald trump, the lime light extraordinaire, in a none too subtle muscle flex. after the utter shambles of ior, the democratic party will be hoping, after the utter shambles of iowa, the democratic party will be hoping, praying, but the votes add up, everything tallies and they are able to declare a winner. to screw up one election might be considered an unfortunate. to screw up a second would be catastrophic. jon sopel, bbc news, new hampshire. let's bring in jane 0'brien, new hampshire. puts pick up on that point, do the democrats have a different system this time? yes, they do. it's a much simpler one. this is a primary, which means it's one vote, one ballot co m e which means it's one vote, one ballot come into its pen and paper, which is a difficult thing to screw

up. so, they are hoping that they will get some kind of clarity after tonight, but, with such a big field, it's hard to know whether or not it will be narrowed by the vote. that's been new hampshire's traditional to try to mow the field down, so at least we know who the frontrunner, at least the three front runners might be. but we've got such a... heading to nevada and south carolina with joe heading to nevada and south carolina withjoe biden heading to nevada and south carolina with joe biden has heading to nevada and south carolina withjoe biden has conceded that he will probably take a hit here. jane, don't go anywhere, ijust will probably take a hit here. jane, don't go anywhere, i just saw this headline that reads... what do you think is happening? she picked her biggest rival, if you look at the ideological makeup of the party is bernie sanders. and he has always had a tremendous amount of support here in new hampshire. he's been campaigning here since 2015, when he took on hillary clinton, and he won

here in 2016, so he's known. people love bernie. and he has this big grass organisation behind him, elizabeth warren at one point was in the lead, but there is a sense that when she unveils her medicare for all plan, it wasn't too popular. people didn't like it. they didn't know how she was going to pay for and when scuttling back to bernie. all right, jane, thank you very much indeed, and of course, in the coming hours, as the polls close, and we start getting updates of how those have gone, you will get that on the bbc channel and on bbc world news. there've been some big developments in syria. the syrian army has taken full control of the m5 highway which runs between damascus and aleppo. that's not been the case since the early stages of the syrian conflict. and this is why it matters. idlib province is the last opposition stronghold in syria — and several key rebel—held towns are linked by these two motorways that run

through idlib — the m4 and m5. they are stategically vital — to all sides. including the government, the rebels, turkey and russia. russia is involved because it backs the government and controls the airspace in idlib province. for its part, turkey has backed the rebels against the government for several years — more recently it's been trying to stop syrian troops launching an offensive in idlib. it's concerned this will driving thousands of refugees across its border. but those efforts have collapsed as syrian forces continue their offensive with russian support. quentin sommerville has this report on the situation. the long and winding death of rebel held idlib is quickening. another at 700,000 people fleeing. among them in the traffic heading north, the fatrolis family.

this is the biggest exit is since syria's war began. this is the biggest exodus since syria's war began. the fatrolis fear what's behind them more than what lies ahead. so, they packed up everything they can carry, knowing that they will likely never be back. translation: we are leaving our house because of the army, an army executes those who stay here. mohammed says he wants to become a fighter. the regime are infidels, he says. translation: if they find us here, we have to flee to any area.

bashar al—assad's forces are tearing at their heels. air strikes and artillery are redrawing the landscape here, as the regime captures more and more territory. the world has stopped counting syria's dead, but in idlib, they don't have that luxury. in the blankets, the child corpse of another victim. here, they knew the regime or planes are coming and ran for cover, but their homes gave them little protection. "i can't recognise him, my father or my brother. "i don't know," says abu ahkmed. "we lift and bury, this is our faith, we, the syrian people." the turkish backed rebels and islam islamic extremists are losing idlib, but today, they had a small victory, the downing of a helicopter. the helicopter behind me belongs to the regime, he says in turkish. it was dropping barrel bombs on innocent civilians, women and children. in syria, even the dead have no peace.

returning regime army soldiers back at their village, and they find the grave of a rebel commander. throw that away, he will remain unknown. they say as they desecrate the site. the living here are running out of breathing space. ahkmed hasjust been dubbed out of the rubble after syrian jets attacked a market in idlib city. 17 people died around him. the pleas for a cease—fire, some respite, are ignored. screaming. in a nearby bed, 11—year—old screams from shrapnel wounds. she and ahkmed will recover, but then what? they will likely end up here, joining many of idlib's other children, clinging on in the sprawling camps at the country's edge with turkey.

a place where people are corralled and forgotten. once again, idlib is asking for help, but the world has left it and syria behind. quentin sommerville, bbc news. let's hearfrom bbc monitoring's samia hosny for the latest on the offensive in idlib. well, government forces have gained further ground today since they launched the offensive to capture it live in december. —— idlib. the main objective for the syrian army is to ca ptu re a objective for the syrian army is to capture a strategic highway, the m5, which connects aleppo to damascus. and in the past few days, they ca ptu red and in the past few days, they captured what they say was 600 km2

of areas including villages and towns. along the empire. today, it's not just towns. along the empire. today, it's notjust in idlib, but in neighbouring aleppo province. where the city of aleppo is situated. today, they captured a mean hilltop village overlooking the highway. it's supposed to be the gateway to southern aleppo. they also captured several villages along the highway, including a town where turkish observation force is located. are we

reaching a point where turkey has to make a decision about the syrian government? well, so far, both sides haveissued government? well, so far, both sides have issued statements that were very strongly worded statements. today, 13 turkish soldiers, so the

two sides have been involved in a so, yes, it seems that the offence is slowing down. parts of the rain forests have started to admit more carbon dioxide thanit started to admit more carbon dioxide than it absorbs but we will see why thatis than it absorbs but we will see why that is in a minute. the prince of wales and duchess

of cornwall have carried out a rare joint engagement with the duke and duchess of cambridge. the four royals all visited a military rehabilitation centre in leicestershire. it's thought to be the first time they have carried out such a visit, as a foursome, since 2011. our royal correspondent daniela relph reports. it was a show of family unity, on a rare joint public engagement. the prince of wales and duchess of cornwall and the duke and duchess of cambridge. with no meghan and no harry, this foursome is now the public, working face of the royal family alongside the queen. together, they toured the defence medical rehabilitation centre just outside loughborough. for william, the wheelchair basketball was a challenge. luckily, today, dad was on hand to help improve his game. although the expert view was harsh.

clearly hasn't played basketball for a while, and it's a bit nerve—racking in front of everyone but dad gave him moral support and he managed to get it in on the second attempt after a little push. there is no question these have been turbulent months for the royalfamily, but today's event here with two future kings front and centre shows the important the family places on stability and continuity. and there was no greater example of that than the queen, who came back to london this afternoon by train after her winter break at sandringham. and she returned to confirmation of the news that her grandson peter phillips and his canadian wife, autumn, are to divorce every family has its own share of dramas to navigate. today's joint public appearance was a reminder that this is a royal family trying to work together and move forward after some very public difficulties.

this is outside source live from the bbc newsroom. our lead story is? the world health organization now calls the coronavirus a very grave threat. more than 1000 people have now died. sudan has indicated that it's willing to hand over its former president, omar al bashir, to the international criminal court. huge moment — he's been wanted for years. here's the announcement being made. we have agreed on the appearance of those who face arrest warrants before the international criminal court. i am saying this very clearly. we cannot achieve justice in this we heal the wound using justice itself. we cannot run away from facing those who have committed

crimes against humanity and war crimes. against innocent people. as you heard, no names were mentioned — but omar al bashir is chief on the list of those charged by the icc. he's wanted in connection toi his role in the conflict in darfur. the un says around 300,000 people were killed — and allegation is that the then president was responsible for some of these deaths. that's something he denies — but after he was driven from power last year, his ability to avoid the charges diminished. anne soy has more. it isa it is a huge development for the people and the announcement was made in the morning by the sports person of transitional military counsel, and he was in dubai when he made that announcement, saying that he had reached that agreement and he would be over bashir to the

international court and it has been 01’ more international court and it has been or more has been indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide. between 2003 and around 2010. there were two arrest wa rra nts around 2010. there were two arrest warrants against him between 2090 2010, but they were ignored. he continued to travel across africa in the middle east, countries that are members did not hand him over and in some cases, the governments were taken to their local courts in the countries but still, there has not been any willingness to hand him over to the icc in this way this is a major development. omar bashir was deposed in a coup last year after three decades in power. he denies all the charges against him. sudan's ousted leader omar al—bashir refuses to deal with the international criminal court as it is a "political court" and sudan's judiciary is able to deal with any case,

one of his lawyers told reuters on tuesday. as anne soy mentioned, the announcement was made injuba, the capital of south sudan. and it came at a crucial stage in peace talks between sudan and rebels from the darfur region. handing over al bashir would appear to be part of the negotiations. here's our africa security correspondent emmanuel igunza. speaking to the commanders, that this was a decision, this was a condition, that the authorities have agreed to one of their key demands and also here, the african union at the summer to have seen a flurry of activity between the prime minister of sudan and with the united nations and also with the african leaders and also with the african leaders and the message has been very clear that he wants the suit done to come

back to the international community. —— sudan. and president, former president omar bashir has been accused of genocide and war crimes and he has always been defiance against this court, popping up in different countries and saying that he does not recognise the jurisdiction of the icc, but it seems like you will be finally having his day in that court. remember, that he is also facing additional charges and sudan, such as killing protesters who led to his ousting last year and also serving time because of corruption charges. you can read more here — mohanad hashim, bbc sudan says "there is no guarantee that it will happen — the generals may on the deal. and if it does happen, it is unlikely to be anytime soon, as talks to end the conflict

still have a long way to go" the amazon rainforest covers only 4% of the earth's surface. it acts like a giant sponge, absorbing and storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide. but now the world has a major problem because a large chunk of that rainforest is emitting more carbon dioxide than it absorbs. around two thirds of the amazon is located in brazil. but the amazon region actually stretches across nine countries in south america. results from a decade—long study of greenhouse gases over the amazon basin appear to show around 20% of the total area has become a net source of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. scientists from brazil's national institute for space research, have been measuring greenhouse gases by flying aircraft fitted

with sensors over different parts of the amazon basin. here's one of the co—authors of the report. this is a very, very worrying observation because it could be showing the beginnings of a major tipping point. in our calculations, if we exceeded 20—25% of deforestation in the amazon, today, we are at about i7%. and if global warming continues unabated, with high emissions, then the tipping point would be reached. for more on the impact this could have on combatting climate change here's the bbc‘s gabriel gatehouse who was given exclusive access to the findings. it helps slow the pace of global

warming. in the 1990s, the amazon took about 2 billion tonnes of carbon every year in the atmosphere, we know that is been slowing down, but this new research that we have seen suggests that a large portion of it in the southeast of the amazon basin, but 20% of the entire area is not admitting more than it takes out, so what these researchers did, they flew over the amazon every two weeks for a period of ten years they literally measure the carbon dioxide in the airorthe literally measure the carbon dioxide in the air or the came up with is that this portion is now sucking up less tha n that this portion is now sucking up less than it puts out. so it is this idea of an amazon tipping point, point at it flips from being in that absorber to a net exhibitor but those are based on climate models and they have a tendency to be a little bit inaccurate. this is based on real life observations. scientists disagree over how long it

would be before the tipping point is reached for the whole amazon and have said others suggest that it will be within a decade or two, this research suggests that the lower end of that timescale, in terms of the politics, brazil's president has made his priorities for the amazon very clear. he wants development, or for conservation. scientists are saying that we need the opposite of that. we need a moratorium on all of the opposite of that. we need a moratorium on all deforestation, see if this trend can be reversed. the conservation, the saving of the amazon is very much a political choice. but i think with this research is suggesting is that choice may not exist for much longer.

hello there. we continue to see wintry conditions across northern areas of the uk. now, the snow combined with strong winds brought some drifting of the snow over the staffordshire moreland. we could have similar conditions can actually come across into scotland, as we head into wednesday. because we've still got those strong winds here, we've still got further snow showers, in the south and west, we see this rich building and later in the day, and that will tend to settle the weather down. that said, there's still a scope for a of further snow showers, at least for a time snow showers coming through thick and fast in scotland. now, we will still have some strong winds in scotland, and that will really knock the edge off the temperatures, not that it's going to be particularly warm day anyway.

we are only looking at highs of around 3—4 degrees. later in the day, we will start to see the next weather system approach and it will begin to spill from the southwest through wednesday night in the rain tends to turn still between northern england and scotland and may be down to lower levels in scotla nd may be down to lower levels in scotland for a time on thursday and thatis scotland for a time on thursday and that is something we are keeping a close eye on. another court date with further south becoming less chilly with time temperatures rising to around nine or 10 celsius. it friday's forecast, deep area of low pressure in the atlantic driving this active weather front, the skull front end and it will be bringing in a zone of heavy rain, particularly across northwestern areas and cause for concern, some flooding building and across of them scotland where the rain has caused problems of recent days. the front because it pushes into eastern england but at this stage it is i would like the rain is going to be particularly

particularly heavy on friday. last weekend, we set a new record, commercial airline from new york to london with the plane taking less than five hours to reach london and it reached some very high speeds, engine 25 miles an hour. but i will tell you about last weekend, this weekend, the jet stream tell you about last weekend, this weekend, thejet stream is tell you about last weekend, this weekend, the jet stream is also going to get up a similar wind speeds, a quarter of 260 miles an hour, straight across the atlantic we cooked and set new transatlantic flight we cooked and set new transatlantic flight records again and like last this powerful jet stream flight records again and like last this powerfuljet stream is also when make a powerful area of low pressure. meat storm dennis and the co re pressure. meat storm dennis and the core of dennis stays near iceland and we have tightly packed ice bars which will bring in strong winds, coastal 60 and 70 mph and high gusts and heavy rain as well. but there will be widespread, 50 to 70 miles

per hour, so some flooding issues building in as we head into the first part of the weekend. so we could see some further disruption on saturday due to the strong winds or heavy rain. yes, it will be turning a little bit milder thanks to those south westerly winds for that is the least of our worries, really. beyond that, a powerful mood, so continuing to influence her weather, the scope for further bouts of windy weather across areas in the scope or heavy rain at times in the south but for the northwest, we're looking at some heavy showers and there will be snow in the hills but it looks like your weather will not be settling down anytime soon. that is your latest forecast.

tonight at ten, the high—speed rail link hs2 will go ahead. the prime minister says it's a difficult and controversial decision. the initial phase will link london and birmingham. the second phase will go to manchester and leeds. but rising costs and delays have hampered the project. this is a fantastic project for the country. it delivers a massive increase in capacity for rail up from north to south and south to north. in those areas affected by the route, there's been dismay at the decision, especially among those whose homes are under threat. i've got children. it'd be nice to think that they could come into the business, but obviously we don't know that now, what future it holds. we'll have details and reaction, as the latest estimated cost